At the time of this writing, people worldwide are suffering the stress, fears, and anxiety that one would expect after two years of coping with COVID-19. Such fears extracted an emotional toll on both mind and body. It’s a frightening time. Businesses have been forced to close. Those that have tried to stay open, or re-open safely, continue to struggle.
Amid daily broadcasts of new virus variants and sensational reports of infections, hospitalizations and death, people are understandably fretting about what comes next. It is in this context that Canadian Criminal Procedure is written.
In late 2019, the Canadian government rewrote many of the laws that govern the procedure to be applied to Canadian criminal trials. The changes were significant. But amending Canada’s criminal procedure rules drew very little attention even in legal circles.
The procedural changes are, nevertheless, dramatic, and may be viewed as an attack on our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This book serves to alert criminal trial lawyers to the dramatically-changed playing field that they will experience when conducting a criminal trial according to these rules. It is also a call to arms to lawyers and Judges to challenge those rules where their implementation represents an affront to the rights guaranteed to all Canadians.
When a rule change so obviously tilts the scales of Justice in favour of an alleged “victim” and against the constitutional rights of an “accused” it is time for our trial lawyers and Judges to respond.
We have the tools to respond legally and effectively. Those rules can be found in the common law generally and more particularly in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
There is no identifiable “victim” until the trial is completed. An allegation of sexual assault, for example, proven to be false during a trial on the merits of that specific allegation, means that the real victim is the accused, forced to defend himself against a false allegation.
There has never been a more important time for our legal profession. We are called upon to answer the urgent call to do all in our power to preserve and protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the great country of Canada. This book is intended to aid that noble cause.