consent
Consent is Neither Implied Nor Retroactive: R v Wilcox
In R v Wilcox, 2014 SCC 75, a paragraph-long oral judgment of the Supreme Court affirms the judgment of Quebec's Court of Appeal, 2014 QCCA 321. In that decision, the majority of the Court of Appeal upheld a trial decision that found James Steven Wilcox guilty of aggravated sexual assault. The charge stemmed from Wilcox's failure to disclose his HIV-positive status […]
Consent and Sexual Assault Causing Bodily Harm: R v Zhao
Can a person legally consent to sexual assault causing bodily harm? In the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada’s landmark decision in R v Jobidon, [1991] 2 SCR 714, there remains some confusion regarding how far to extend the broad proposition outlined in that case – namely, that bodily harm cannot be consented to. […]
Secretly Poking Holes in Condoms Vitiates Consent to Sexual Activity: R v Hutchinson
After two trials and cycles through the appellate court system, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has dismissed the appeal in R v Hutchinson, 2014 SCC 19 [Hutchinson]. Building on the decision in R v Mabior, [2012] 2 SCR 584 [Mabior], the Court in Hutchinson further clarified the law surrounding consent to sexual activity, holding that […]
R v Alboukhari: Misapprehended Evidence and “Reasonable Steps” to Ascertain Consent
In R v Alboukhari, 2013 ONCA 581 [Alboukhari], a decision released by the Ontario Court of Appeal on September 27, 2013, the court closely analyzed the trial judge’s finding related to a sexual encounter between two young people on a camping trip. The trial judge had found that the defence of honest but mistaken belief […]