VIOLATING THE CHARTER II CLN4U

Charter Violations If an individual feels their rights have been violated, the onus is on the individual to prove this to the court If proven, the onus shifts to the government to show the limit was justified

Charter Violations If the court decides the right was violated and the limit is not reasonable, there are a number of actions available: Strike down entire law Strike down sections of the law Read down the law: law needs to be narrowed R. v. Butler,

Charter Violations The court may also: Read in a term to allow legislation to stand, but corrected Vriend v. Alberta, Homosexual man fired from a Christian college “Sexual Orientation” not included in Alberta’s human rights legislation, so Vriend was unable to have his human rights complaint heard Supreme Court read in the term Declare law unconstitutional, but give government time to change law or fix situation

Remedies Under The Charter If an individual’s rights have been violated, the court has various remedy options The right to remedies is guaranteed in section 24 of the Charter S.24(1) – right to seek remedy in court S.24(2) – admissibility of evidence

Remedies Under s.24(1) “Anyone whose rights or freedoms, as guaranteed by this Charter, have been infringed or denied may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances.” Possible remedies: Injunction: take some sort of action or cease an action Damages: $$

Remedies Under s.24(2) “Where, in proceedings under subsection (1), a court concludes that evidence was obtained in a manner that infringed or denied any rights or freedoms guaranteed by this Charter, the evidence shall be excluded if it is established that, having regard to all the circumstances, the admission of it in the proceedings would bring the administration of justice into disrepute.” Possible remedies: Stay of proceedings: court case stopped in order to determine if evidence can still be admitted.