''Azoulay v R'',
952
Year 952 ( CMLII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place Europe
* Summer – At the Reichstag in Augsburg (assembled by King Otto I), joined by German nob ...
2 S.C.R. 495 was a decision by the
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, wh ...
on
abortion in Canada
Abortion in Canada is legal at all stages of pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. However, access to services and resources varies ...
. The court found that with evidence so complicated, a judge should summarize it to a jury.
Background
Dr. Leon Azoulay was accused of
murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...
after one of his patients died. This woman, described by Justice
James Wilfred Estey
James Wilfred (Bill) Estey (December 1, 1889 – January 22, 1956) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and jurist.
Born in Keswick Ridge, New Brunswick, the son of Byron Leslie Estey and Sarah Ann Kee, he received a Bachelor of Arts from th ...
as "Mrs. P.", had allegedly received an
abortion
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...
from Azoulay which wound up causing a fatal
haemorrhage
Bleeding, hemorrhage, haemorrhage or blood loss, is blood escaping from the circulatory system from damaged blood vessels. Bleeding can occur internally, or externally either through a natural opening such as the mouth, nose, ear, urethra, vagi ...
. An
autopsy
An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...
revealed evidence of an abortion.
At trial, the judge spoke about the law under which Azoulay was charged, and told the
jury
A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartiality, impartial verdict (a Question of fact, finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty o ...
that if they found Azoulay guilty, there must be evidence beyond a
reasonable doubt
Beyond a reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the balance of probabilities standard commonly used in civil cases, becau ...
. He also declined to summarize the facts of the case, saying that they "have been well elaborated by the Defence and the Crown." Azoulay was found guilty of
manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...
.
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
's court of appeal upheld the conviction, albeit with the Chief Justice dissenting that the trial judge's discussion with the jury was inadequate.
Decision
The Supreme Court overturned the trial. Justice
Robert Taschereau
Robert Taschereau (September 10, 1896 – July 26, 1970) was a lawyer who became the 11th Chief Justice of Canada and who briefly served as the Administrator of the Government of Canada following the death of Governor General of Canada Georg ...
wrote an opinion saying he could imagine that there was sufficient evidence to convict Azoulay. However, he agreed with the dissenting Chief Justice in the lower court that the trial judge "failed to instruct properly the jury, in omitting to review the evidence." Taschereau pointed to ''
Spencer v. Alaska Parkers'' (1905) to say precedent had been established that judges should help guide the jury in giving "value and effect" to certain pieces of evidence. Thus, needless details were not discarded, and the jury was "left in a state of confusion."
Justice James Wilfred Estey, in his opinion, wrote that the evidence in this case was "technical and somewhat involved," and that made it all the more necessary that a judge should help summarize the facts and distinguish important evidence from needless details. In particular, he found that the defence arguments were not adequately presented.
Dissent
Two dissents were written by Justices
Ivan Rand
Ivan Cleveland Rand (April 27, 1884 – January 2, 1969) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, academic, and justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He has been described as 'probably the greatest judge in Canada's history'.
Early life and c ...
and
Gérald Fauteux
Joseph Honoré Gérald Fauteux (October 22, 1900 – September 14, 1980) was the 13th Chief Justice of Canada from 1970 to 1973.
Born in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, the son of Homère Fauteux and Héva Mercier, he studied at the Université de ...
. Rand wrote that the defence was not actually complex, and the facts were generally accepted. For a judge to summarize the defence's arguments would have been redundant after a simple point had been repeated and explored many times.
[Page 500.]
Fauteux wrote that if the trial judge had summarized the expert testimony, this would work against rather than favour the defence's case.
See also
*
* ''
Morgentaler v R
''Morgentaler v R'' (also known as ''Morgentaler v The Queen'') is a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where physician Henry Morgentaler unsuccessfully challenged the prohibition of abortion in Canada under the Criminal Code. The Court fou ...
''
* ''
R v Morgentaler
''R v Morgentaler'', 9881 SCR 30 was a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada which held that the abortion provision in the ''Criminal Code'' was unconstitutional because it violated women's rights under section 7 of the ''Canadian Charter of ...
''
*
''R v Morgentaler'' (1993)
* ''
Tremblay v Daigle
''Tremblay v Daigle'' 9892 S.C.R. 530, was a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in which it was found that a fetus has no legal status in Canada as a person, either in Canadian common law or in Quebec civil law.Dunsmuir, Mollie. 1991 Review ...
''
References
External links
* {{lexum-scc2, 1952, 2, 495, 4
1952 in Canadian case law
Canadian abortion case law
Canadian criminal procedure case law
Supreme Court of Canada cases