This influential text provides a critical review of how the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is being applied in the criminal courts by the Supreme Court, courts of appeal and trial judges. The central authorities and arguments are fully examined.
The fifth edition had to be substantially revised to reflect the impact of recent Supreme Court of Canada bellweather decisions in Grant and the companion decisions in Harrison and Suberu. These decisions require a new approach to the meaning of detention for Charter purposes and to the remedy of exclusion of evidence under section 24(2) of the Charter. Much of the voluminous prior jurisprudence on section 24(2) over the past 27 years relating to the meaning and consequences of conscripting the accused in violation of the Charter is now of little moment. New clarifications and new questions are identified.
Other major new Supreme Court decisions in the past five years analysed in this edition include:
- Beatty: Objective fault for crimes requiring marked departure from norm
- Kang-Brown and A.M.: Police power to use dog sniffers on reasonable suspicion
- Clayton and Farmer: Roadblock stop powers
- Henry: Use Immunity under Section 13 limited to prior compelled testimony
- Singh: Controversial decision right to silence does not apply to interrogation
- Patrick: No reasonable expectation of privacy in garbage placed for delivery
- Godin: Inferring prejudice respecting right to be tried within reasonable time
- McNeil: Disclosure of records of police misconduct and O'Connor applications;
- M.E.R.: Less Appellate Review under Duty to Give Reasons
- Kapp: Revised approached to discrimination under s.15