CRIM 230 Lecture Notes - Foster Care, Statutory Interpretation, Murder
18 Apr 2013
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
A. statues: all offences in canada must derive must legislation i. e. federal statutes and regulations and provincial statutes and regulations. Federal legislations include criminal code, customs acts, controlled drugs and substances act etc. provincial legislations includes highway traffic, public health and occupation safety. B judge made law: without doubt, judges, through the power of interpretation, create various meanings to statutes. Doctrine of stare decisis (to abide by the decision) lower court must follow higher courts, however, the supreme court of. The use of secondary sources of interpretations i. e. academic writing and law reform commissions. C. charter of rights and freedoms: 1. Purposeful interpretation of entrenched rights: supreme court of canada explicitly stated that courts must adopt purposeful interpretation of the charter. Almost all crime requires the physical (actus reas) and the mental element (mens rea) There is acceptable meaning for the act requirement actus reus. However, requiring actus reus is essential to negate liability for mental element alone.
