Contextualizing Criminal Defences: Exploring the Contribution of Justice Bertha Wilson

Research output: Chapter

Abstract

The authors survey the opinions of Justice Wilson in three important criminal defence cases: R. v. Perka, R. V. Hill, and R. v. Lavallee. These cases reveal the development of her understanding of equality in criminal law, ranging from a formal individualistic understanding of equality in Perka through to a nuanced substantive approach to equality in Lavallee. Next, the authors discuss two different ways that context figures in those opinions, to: (1) understand the accused's actions, and (2) to locate the defence itself in its social and historical context to reveal biases and inequalities reflected therein. Finally, the authors examine the Supreme Court's more recent approach to defences, highlighting the ways in which Justice Wilson's equality-informed contextual approach has been both present and absent in some of the Court's recent decisions.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication Justice Bertha Wilson
Subtitle of host publicationOne Woman's Difference
EditorsKim Brooks
Place of PublicationVancouver
PublisherUBC Press
Pages153-172
ISBN (Electronic)9780774817349
ISBN (Print)9780774817325, 9780774817332
Publication statusPublished - 2009

Publication series

SeriesLaw and Society

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