It is a crime in Canada to traffic in a drug prohibited by the Controlled Drug and Substance Act (“CDSA”) and the Cannabis Act. Illegal Drugs prohibited by the CDSA and the Cannabis Act include cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy, heroin, ketamine, oxycodone, GHB and a slew of other narcotics. If you or someone you know if facing an allegation of […]

In Canada police cannot generally enter a person’s home without prior judicial authorization (a warrant) except under very limited circumstances. Further, a person can use a reasonable amount of physical force to remove a police officer who is trespassing on their private property. “Sanctity of the Home” Doctrine To determine whether or not the officer was entitled to enter the […]

A domestic assault is as an assault that takes place between “intimate partners” who are either current or former spouses, common-law partners or dating partners. Where an assault takes place between two people who share one of these relationships mentioned above, the mater is labeled “domestic” and prosecuted quite differently by Crown counsel than other types of assault charges. Although the Criminal Code doesn’t contain […]

Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada, enacted in 1892, provides parents, teachers and caregivers — including babysitters and foster parents — a defence to an assault charge when they use corporal punishment as “reasonable force” to discipline children.   Section 43 contemplates four elements which must be present if the disciplining is to be justified: (a) a certain relation between […]