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R V Smith (1987)
''R v Smith'', 9871 S.C.R. 1045 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision. The Court struck down a mandatory seven-year sentence requirement for the importation of drugs as a violation of the right against cruel and unusual punishment contrary to section 12 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms''. Background Edward Smith, a twenty-seven-year-old man with multiple convictions for drug-related offences, was arriving back in Canada from Bolivia. At customs he was searched and the officers found over seven ounces of cocaine. He was convicted of importing drugs under the Narcotics Control Act and sentenced to eight years. The Act had required a minimum sentence of seven years regardless of the amount found. The provision was challenged on the basis that it violated the ''Charter''. The issue before the Supreme Court of Canada was whether the mandatory minimum sentence of seven years under section 5(2) of the Narcotics Control Act infringe section 7, 9, and 12 of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Dickson
Robert George Brian Dickson (May 25, 1916 – October 17, 1998) was a Canadian lawyer, military officer and judge. He was appointed a puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada on March 26, 1973, and subsequently appointed the 15th Chief Justice of Canada on April 18, 1984. He retired on June 30, 1990. Dickson's tenure as chief justice coincided with the first wave of cases under the new ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' which reached the Supreme Court from 1984 onwards. Dickson wrote several very influential judgments dealing with the ''Charter'' and laid the groundwork for the approach that the courts would take to the ''Charter''. Early life and family Dickson was born to Thomas Dickson and Sarah Elizabeth Gibson, in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, in 1916, although the family lived at that time in Wynyard.M.A. MacPherson, "About Brian, Bill and Me: Regina Collegiate", in DeLloyd J. Guth (ed.), ''Brian Dickson at the Supreme Court of Canada 1973-1990'' (Winnipeg: Canad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supreme Court Of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal Appeal, appellate courts. The Supreme Court is bijural, hearing cases from two major legal traditions (common law and Civil law (legal system), civil law) and bilingual, hearing cases in both Official bilingualism in Canada, official languages of Canada (English language, English and French language, French). The effects of any judicial decision on the common law, on the interpretation of statutes, or on any other application of law, can, in effect, be nullified by legislation, unless the particular decision of the court in question involves applicatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cruel And Unusual Punishment
Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisdiction, but typically includes punishments that are arbitrary, unnecessary, overly severe compared to the crime, or not generally accepted in society. History The words cruel and unusual punishment were first used in the English Bill of Rights 1689. They were later also adopted in the United States by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (ratified 1791) and in the British Leeward Islands (1798). Very similar words, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", appear in Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. The right under a different formulation is also found in Article 3 of the Euro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section Twelve Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as part of the Constitution of Canada, is a legal rights section that protects an individual's freedom from cruel and unusual punishments in Canada. The section has generated some case law, including the essential case '' R. v. Smith'' (1987), in which it was partially defined, and '' R. v. Latimer'' (2001), a famous case in which Saskatchewan farmer Robert Latimer protested that his long, mandatory minimum sentence for the murder of his disabled daughter was cruel and unusual. The section states: Definition ''R. v. Smith'' was the first case in which section 12 was considered by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court, however, could and did follow previous interpretations of cruel and unusual punishments in pre-Charter case law, namely '' Miller and Cockriell v. The Queen'' (1977). Cruel and unusual punishment was thus defined as punishment "so excessive as to outrage standards of decency" or "grossly disproportionate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Charter'' guarantees certain political rights to Canadian citizens and civil rights of everyone in Canada from the policies and actions of all areas and levels of the government. It is designed to unify Canadians around a set of principles that embody those rights. The ''Charter'' was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II of Canada on April 17, 1982, along with the rest of the ''Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Charter'' was preceded by the '' Canadian Bill of Rights'', enacted in 1960, which was a federal statute rather than a constitutional document. As a federal statute, the ''Bill of Rights'' could be amended through the ordinary legislative process and had no application to provincial laws. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total area. Its southern and western border with the United States, stretching , is the world's longest binational land border. Canada's capital is Ottawa, and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Indigenous peoples have continuously inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years. Beginning in the 16th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled along the Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various armed conflicts, France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square patchwork with the (top left to bottom right) diagonals forming colored stripes (green, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, white, green, blue, purple, red, orange, yellow, from top right to bottom left) , other_symbol = , other_symbol_type = Dual flag: , image_coat = Escudo de Bolivia.svg , national_anthem = " National Anthem of Bolivia" , image_map = BOL orthographic.svg , map_width = 220px , alt_map = , image_map2 = , alt_map2 = , map_caption = , capital = La Paz Sucre , largest_city = , official_languages = Spanish , languages_type = Co-official languages , languages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Narcotics Control Act
The ''Narcotic Control Act'' (the ''Act''), passed in 1961, was one of Canada's national drug control statutes prior to its repeal by the 1996 ''Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.'' It implemented the provisions of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. The "narcotics" included in the ''Act'' are drugs such as heroin, cocaine and cannabis. The ''Act'' prohibits activities such as possession of a "narcotic", possession for the purpose of trafficking, cultivating, importing or exporting. Section 3 of the ''Act'' prohibits the possession of the "narcotic". A person is authorized to have a narcotic in his or her possession if he or she requires the narcotic for his business or profession and is a licensed dealer, a pharmacist, or a practitioner who is registered and entitled to practice in the province in which he has such possession. The maximum penalty for possession of narcotics is 7 years' imprisonment. Section 4 of the ''Act'' prohibits the trafficking of a narcotic or the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section Seven Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
Section 7 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is a constitutional provision that protects an individual's autonomy and personal legal rights from actions of the government in Canada. There are three types of protection within the section: the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Denials of these rights are constitutional only if the denials do not breach what is referred to as fundamental justice. This ''Charter'' provision provides both substantive and procedural rights. It has broad application beyond merely protecting due process in administrative proceedings and in the adjudicative context, and has in certain circumstances touched upon major national policy issues such as entitlement to social assistance and public health care. As such, it has proven to be a controversial provision in the ''Charter''. Text Under the heading of "Legal Rights", the section states: Application The wording of section 7 says that it applies to "everyone". This inclu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section Nine Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
Section 9 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'', found under the "Legal rights" heading in the Charter, guarantees the right against arbitrary detainment and imprisonment. Section nine states: Interpretation Detainment within the meaning of both section nine and section ten is not invoked unless there is significant physical or psychological restraint. Detainment can be found to be arbitrary where there is "no express or implied criteria which govern its exercise." The Supreme Court of Canada has stated that "detention" refers to a suspension of an individual's liberty interest by a significant physical or psychological restraint. Psychological detention is established either where the individual has a legal obligation to comply with the restrictive request or demand, or a reasonable person would conclude by reason of the state conduct that he or she had no choice but to comply. In cases where there is no physical restraint or legal obligation, it may not be clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antonio Lamer
Joseph Antonio Charles Lamer (July 8, 1933 – November 24, 2007) was a Canadian lawyer, jurist and the 16th Chief Justice of Canada. Career Lamer practised in partnership at the firm of Cutler, Lamer, Bellemare and Associates and was a full professor in the Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal, where he was also a lecturer in criminology. On December 19, 1969, at the age of 36, he was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court and to the Queen's Bench (Crown Side) of the province of Quebec. In 1978, he was elevated to the Quebec Court of Appeal and was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1980. Brian Mulroney named Lamer as Chief Justice on July 1, 1990. On January 7, 2000, Lamer took an unexpected early retirement after having served as chief justice for ten years. Several years after his death, former judges spoke about the situation surrounding his retirement. According to a 2011 article in ''The Globe and Mail'', in February 1999, a "delegation of three veteran ju ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section One Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms
Section 1 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is the section that confirms that the rights listed in the Charter are ''guaranteed''. The section is also known as the reasonable limits clause or limitations clause, as it legally allows the government to limit an individual's ''Charter'' rights. This limitation on rights has been used in the last twenty years to prevent a variety of objectionable conduct such as child pornography (e.g., in ''R v Sharpe''), hate speech (e.g., in ''R v Keegstra''), and obscenity (e.g., in ''R v Butler''). When the government has limited an individual's right, there is an onus upon the Crown to show, on the balance of probabilities, firstly, that the limitation was ''prescribed by law'' namely, that the law is attuned to the values of ''accessibility'' and ''intelligibility''; and secondly, that it is ''justified in a free and democratic society'', which means that it must have a justifiable purpose and must be proportional. Text Und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
