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Full-Text Articles in Law
Section 276 Misconstrued: The Failure To Properly Interpret And Apply Canada's Rape Shield Provisions, Elaine Craig
Section 276 Misconstrued: The Failure To Properly Interpret And Apply Canada's Rape Shield Provisions, Elaine Craig
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
Despite the vintage of Canada’s rape shield provisions (which in their current manifestation have been in force since 1992), some trial judges continue to misinterpret and/or misapply the Criminal Code provisions limiting the use of evidence of a sexual assault complainant’s other sexual activity. These errors seem to flow from a combination of factors including a general misunderstanding on the part of some trial judges as to what section 276 requires and a failure on the part of some trial judges to properly identify, and fully remove, problematic assumptions about sex and gender from their analytical approach to the use …
Judging The Social Sciences In Carter V. Canada, Jodi Lazare
Judging The Social Sciences In Carter V. Canada, Jodi Lazare
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
This paper examines a recent example of evidence-based decision making affecting social policy at the trial court level. It offers a close reading of Carter v Canada (AG), decided by the British Columbia Supreme Court, and of Justice Lynn Smith’s careful scrutiny of the social science evidence when invalidating the Criminal Code prohibition on assistance in dying. Drawing on literature which examines the legal system’s use of social science evidence and expert witnesses, this paper suggests that Justice Smith’s treatment of the evidence in Carter provides an example of skilled judicial treatment of the extensive amounts of social science evidence …