Robson Crim Legal Blog

See the full text here:

Author: ECP Rehabilitation is an important objective for sentences that Canadian criminal courts place on offenders.[1] Jurisprudence first recognized that incarcerating offenders does not effectively rehabilitate them in the case R. v. Proulx.[2] However, legal scholarship indicates that restorative principles have been restrained in recent years.[3] This case from the Manitoba Court of Appeal outlines a situation where the Criminal Justice system has placed barriers to legi

In an ideal world, the law is applied equally to every person in society. Of course, this is often not the case, as people’s individual circumstances change the way that a case is analyzed and applied. People who earn a low income are disproportionately burdened by legal problems compared to individuals higher on the socioeconomic spectrum.[1] In criminal law, low-income individuals are both more likely to become involved with the law in some way and are more likely to be den

A primary principle of Canadian law is the principle of stare decisis. An implication of stare decisis is that it ensures that there is consistency in the law; however, it also means that there is limited to no room for consideration of an offender and their circumstances in the application of the law. The fundamental purpose of sentencing as outlined in s. 718 of the Criminal Code is to contribute to the maintenance of a just, peaceful, and safe society.[1] However, unlike t

In the Criminal Code, Section 273.1[1] defines the required components of consent in relation to the charge of sexual assault. This provision also includes a limitation of the potential defence to sexual assault, aptly named “The Defence of Honest Belief in Consent,” under Section 273.2,[2] stating: Where Belief in Consent is not a Defence 273.2 It is not a defence to a charge under section 271, 272, or 273 that the accused believed that the complainant consented to the acti