Robson Crim Legal Blog

R v Mason (“Mason”) deals with self-defence in general and how the defence of self-defence interacts with Battered Women Syndrome suffered by the accused. Using the 1990 Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) decision of R v Lavallee (“Lavallee”).

If you have ever watched the popular Netflix show How To Get Away With Murder, you have probably heard Professor Keating played by Viola Devis explain to her students the concept of “mens rea” in the first episode. In subsequent episodes, we see this element of criminal law play out. But what exactly is mens rea and why is it a crucial element of a crime? Well, as Professor Keating explains to her students, mens rea is the “guilty mind”, it is the state of the mind.

In R v Mack (1988) (“Mack”), the Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) set out two branches of the doctrine of entrapment that were later affirmed in Barnes (1991) (“Barnes”). Entrapment occurs when “(a) the authorities provide an opportunity to persons to commit an offence without reasonable suspicion or acting mala fides […] or, (b) having reasonable suspicion or acting in the course of a bona fide inquiry, they go beyond proving an opportunity and induce the commission of

In November 2015, Ken Chung was driving in Vancouver at nearly three times the speed limit towards a major intersection. Chung’s car crashed into a left-turning vehicle causing that driver to die at the scene. It was morning with no rain, but the roads were damp. Traffic was light around the intersection. The roads were wide and straight with dedicated left-turning lanes. The speed limit for both streets was 50 km/h.

Drones have become a hot button topic at the dinner table with respect to issues of privacy, trespass, and state surveillance, but the ability of retail drones to facilitate criminal activity seems to have garnered less attention. Drone technology itself isn’t particularly new. It’s origins date back as far as the 19th century “when the Austrians used pilotless hot-air balloons to bomb Venice.”