Major criminal law Charter cases to be released Friday: Grant, Suberu, Harrison

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Posted By: Lawrence Gridin July 14, 2009

I have huge news for anyone interested in criminal law (and indeed, many accused persons).

After years of anticipation, the Supreme Court of Canada is finally set to release some of the most important criminal law Charter of Rights decisions since the Charter was introduced. This will have implications across Canada for thousands of criminal cases currently before the courts.

According to the latest bulletin, decisions in the following cases will be released on Friday, July 17, 2009:

  • Musibau Suberu v. Her Majesty the Queen (Crim.) (Ont.) (31912)
  • Donnohue Grant v. Her Majesty the Queen (Crim.) (Ont.) (31892)
  • Curtis Shepherd v. Her Majesty the Queen (Crim.) (Sask.) (32037)
  • Bradley Harrison v. Her Majesty the Queen (Crim.) (Ont.) (32487)

These cases promise to redefine the way that evidence is excluded from a criminal trial after a Charter breach has been found. The application of Charter, s. 24(2), and specifically the test for whether the adminstration of justice would be brought into disrepute by the admission of the evidence, is expected to be significantly different after Friday. The old test in R. v. Collins, [1987] 1 S.C.R. 265 was certainly overdue for a review after over twenty years of application and modification by trial and appellate courts.

Summaries of the four cases and the issues can be found here.

About the Author

Lawrence Gridin
Lawrence Gridin is currently a law student at the University of Western Ontario, graduating in the class of 2010. He completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of Toronto, majoring in Psychology and History. Lawrence volunteers at Western's Community Legal Services and has participated in the clinic's outreach program. His diverse interests include social justice, 20th century history, photography, boxing, and politics.