Robson Crim Legal Blog

There are few institutions, if any, that inhibit liberty more than prisons. Although they have become deeply ingrained in Canada.

Section 489(2) in the Criminal Code permits seizures of material without a warrant on two conditions: firstly, that the officer be lawfully present; and secondly, that the officer believes on reasonable grounds that the seized property has been used in or for the commission of an offense.Intuitively this power must be considered specifically with an eye to section 8 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms against unlawful searches and seizures.

While perusing Netflix over the past couple months, you may have come across a mini-series called Unbelievable, and its name truly lives up to its premise. Based upon the true story of an American woman pseudonymously known as “Marie”, the show follows the victim of a serial rapist who reported her rape to the police and was both disbelieved and criminally charged with a gross demeanour for false accusation in Lynnwood, Washington.

In the relatively recent and arguably confusing Supreme Court decision of R v Morrison, the constitutionality of s 172 of the Criminal Code was at issue. The respondent, Douglas Morrison, was charged with child luring contrary to s 172 of the Code. Interestingly enough, the facts of Morrison are enough to fuel a made-for-TV movie.

R v Jordan was heard on July 8th, 2016 and has significantly changed the practice of criminal law. With any significant change, there are still growing pains. The issues regarding delay and the timeline ceilings in Jordan raise more questions than it answers.One of those issues was recently addressed in R v KJM, 2019 SCC 55. KJM addresses the issue of whether or not the Jordan 18-month ceiling and the presumption of unreasonable delay was also applicable in youth justice cour