Judges will now decide who is listed in sex offender registry

By LegalMatters Staff • The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled in late October that those convicted of designated sexual offences should not be automatically included in a national sex offenders registry, since that infringed on rights guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“A law cannot deprive the life, liberty, or security of the person of even one individual in a way that is inconsistent with the principles of fundamental justice,” reads the judgment. “As a consequence, laws that are broadly drawn to make enforcement more practical run afoul of (the Charter’s guarantee of life, liberty and security of the person) should they deprive the liberty of even one person in a way that does not serve the law’s purpose.”

Ottawa criminal lawyer Céline Dostaler commends the SCC for this decision, noting that judges will again be allowed to consider the case’s specific facts before deciding if that offender should be in the registry.

She adds the lifting of mandatory inclusion should also speed up the overall court process, as now some sexual assault cases will be settled with a plea instead of proceeding to trial.

“The ending of the automatic inclusion into the sex offenders registry gives defence counsel more room to manoeuvre when building a defence for clients,” Dostaler says.