Assignment
Can the common-law defences of necessity, duress or self defence be a defence to an absolute liability offence? Just answer yes or no, and name one case that supports your answer.
In what one circumstance in the criminal court process can an accused person have psychiatric treatment forced upon them without their consent? What section of the Criminal Code supports your answer?
Compare "NCR" with "unfit to stand trial" in terms of (a) where each is defined in the Criminal Code, (b) what the requirements are for each (i.e., what needs to be proven in order for a judge to make a finding of either NCR or unfit to stand trial), and (c) what point in time are we interested in when considering the accused's state of mind.
What dispositions are available for an accused who has been found NCR or unfit to stand trial? Which of these dispositions is available to a person who has been found NCR, but is not available for an accused who has been found unfit to stand trial?
In order for a person to be found NCR, one issue is whether the accused was able to know that what he did was wrong. According to the caselaw, what does "knowing that it was wrong" mean? In answering this, be sure to explain whether "wrong" means "morally wrong" or "legally wrong", and to refer to at least one Supreme Court of Canada case and one case from the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Bill C-26, The Citizen's Arrest and Self-Defence Act, changed the law of self-defence in 2013. The new self-defence provision was analyzed by the Ontario Court of Appeal in 2020. Please name the case, which was discussed in class.
According to this decision, the defence of self defence has 3 components. Indicate:
1) What these three components are, with a brief explanation of each
2) What section of the Criminal Code each component comes from, and
3) With respect to each component, whether the test applied is subjective, objective, or something else.
In R. v. Ramelson (2022), the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether the defence of entrapment would apply in a child luring case where undercover officers, pretending to be 14-year-old girls, communicated with adults on a website dedicated to escort services. Specifically, the Court provided guidance on whether a "virtual space" could be a "place" where the police could conduct a bona fide investigation.
1) What did the Supreme Court decide on this issue?
2) If a "virtual space" can be a "place", what is the test for determining whether the police have reasonable suspicion when engaging with a suspect in a virtual space?
3) Can the reasonable suspicion be formed AFTER the police have offered an opportunity to commit a crime?
A person charged as a party to murder - he acted as the lookout, but did not personally participate in the killing - wishes to rely on the defence of duress. Referring to a case decided by the Ontario Court of Appeal within the last 10 years, is such a defence available? If so, would it be the common-law defence of duress, or the defence of duress as set out in section 17 of the Criminal Code? When answering this question, please list the elements of the common-law defence of duress.
On May 13, 2022 the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in the cases of R. v. Brown, R. v. Chan and R. v. Sullivan. The case concerned s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code. Please answer the following questions about this case.
1) What is s. 33.1 about? i.e., What does it do or what does it seek to accomplish?
2) What was the legal issue in these three cases?
3) What decision did the Supreme Court of Canada make with respect to s. 33.1?
4) How did the Supreme Court's decision potentially affect sexual assault cases?
5) How did Parliament respond to this decision?