Section 1: Reasonable Limits

Section 1 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms:

1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.

R. v. K.R.J., [2016] 1 SCR 906

In considering the retroactive effect of new probation provisions for sexual offenders, the Supreme Court considered the effect of section 1 of the Charter (reasonable limits) on subsection 11(i) thereof (benefit of the lesser punishment). Continue reading

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Filed under Section 1: Reasonable Limits, Section 11: Legal Rights, Section 11(i): Lesser Punishment

R. v. Oakes, [1986] 1 SCR 103

In R. v. Oakes, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a Court of Appeal decision striking down a clause of the Narcotic Control Act which presumed that an individual in possession of drugs had the intent to traffic. This reverse onus, the Court ruled, was contrary to the presumption of innocence in Section 11(d) of the Charter, and was not a reasonable limit on the legal rights of the accused and therefore could not be saved by Section 1. Continue reading

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Filed under Section 1: Reasonable Limits, Section 11: Legal Rights, Section 11(d): Presumption of Innocence