Defences
Section 33.1 of the Criminal Code declared “of no force and effect” in R v Brown
In May 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC” or the “Court”) released two important decisions in R v Brown, 2022 SCC 18 [Brown] and its companion case, R v Sullivan, 2022 SCC 19 [Sullivan]. This article discusses Brown. For more information on Sullivan, refer to the case comment here. In Brown, Justice Nicholas […]
Evaluating the Doctrine of Entrapment in Online Spaces: R v Haniffa and R v Dare Granted Leave to Appeal
Can the police target an online community that is known to match interested parties with underage escorts? The Supreme Court’s (“SCC”) latest grants of leave to appeal from R v Haniffa 2021 ONCA 326 [Haniffa] and R v Dare, 2021 ONCA 327 [Dare] will be a welcome advancement to how entrapment is conceptualized in online […]
Broadening the Scope of Self-defence: Accused’s “Role in the Incident” in R v Khill
For many people, self-defence means a person was desperate, in a kill-or-be-killed situation, and makes a split-second choice to save their own life. After R. v. Khill, 2021 SCC 37 (“Khill”), we know that’s not quite right. An accused's role may be broad, made up of any conduct that shows whether they acted reasonably—not just […]
R v Khill: Jury Instructions and Assessing Reasonableness for the Defence of Self-Defense
In the case of R v Khill, 2020 ONCA 151 [Khill], Mr. Khill was initially found not guilty of second-degree murder in 2018 for fatally shooting Mr. Styres, an Indigenous man, in 2016. However, the Crown appealed the verdict, and the Court of Appeal overturned the decision on the basis that the trial judge failed […]
R v Ahmad: The Entrapment Doctrine in Dial-a-Dope Investigations and the Notion of Reasonable Suspicion
As state actors, police officers “must respect the rights and freedoms” of the public that they serve, including when conducting criminal investigations that are in the public interest (R v Ahmad, 2020 SCC 11, para 1) [Ahmad]. As a result, police methods of investigation, while broad, are imposed with necessary constraints to ensure the public’s […]
R v Sullivan: SCC will hear constitutional challenge on the prohibition of the extreme intoxication defence
In December, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “The Court”) granted the Crown leave to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s (“ONCA”) ruling in R v Sullivan, 2020 ONCA 333 [Sullivan]. In this jointly-heard case, the ONCA ruled that s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code, RSC, 1985 c C-46 [the Code]—which prohibits self-induced intoxication […]
R v RS: Considering Lived Realities in Self-Defence Claims
If an individual is hit in the head with a baseball bat and subsequently shoots and kills his attacker, were they acting in self-defence? What if the individual fired four shots in less than five seconds and did not know his attacker was running away? The Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) recently considered these facts […]