''R v Darrach'',

000 Triple zero, Triple Zero, Zero Zero Zero, Triple 0, Triple-0, 000, or 0-0-0 may refer to: * 000 (emergency telephone number), the Australian emergency telephone number * "Triple Zero", a song by AFI (band), AFI from ''Shut Your Mouth and Open Your ...

2 SCR 443, 2000 SCC 46, is a case decided 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 the constitutionality of the ''

Criminal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...

s "

rape shield law A rape shield law is a law that limits the ability to introduce evidence or cross-examine rape complainants about their past sexual behaviour. The term also refers to a law that prohibits the publication of the identity of an alleged rape vict ...

". The Court upheld the law.

Background

In 1994, Andrew Darrach, an

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

resident, was charged with sexually assaulting his ex-girlfriend. At trial, he attempted to introduce evidence of his ex-girlfriend's sexual history. A ''

voir dire (; often ; from an Anglo-Norman phrase meaning "to speak the truth") is a legal phrase for a variety of procedures connected with jury trial A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a Trial, legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or Qu ...

'', required under the rape shield law in section 276 of the ''Criminal Code'' to consider whether the evidence is admissible, was carried out. The judge refused to admit the evidence after Darrach refused to be cross-examined on his affidavit. Darrach was sentenced to nine months in jail. An initial appeal was dismissed by the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

.''R. v. Darrach'' (1998 CanLII 1648 (ON CA))
/ref> The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court. Darrach argued he was denied a fair trial because he was unable to present evidence that he mistakenly believed that the ex-girlfriend had consented. He also argued that his right to silence and right against self-incrimination were violated by the requirement to testify at the ''voir dire''.
/ref>

Opinion of the Court

Gonthier J, writing for a unanimous Court, upheld the ''Criminal Code'' provisions. He found that requiring the complainant to testify would be unnecessarily invasive and would discourage victims from reporting such incidents. Gonthier also found that Darrach's right to avoid self-incrimination was not infringed by the requirement for him to testify regarding his ''voir dire'' affidavit, because the accused made the voluntary decision to have the ''voir dire'' carried out. The decision to have the ''voir dire'', and by extension the requirement to submit an affidavit and accept cross-examination, was voluntarily made by Darrach. Any testimony at the ''voir dire'' would have solely been to determine the admissibility of the evidence Darrach wished to submit, and would have been unusable in the trial itself.

References

External links

* Darrach Darrach Darrach Rape in Canada Canadian criminal case law {{Canada-law-stub