R v Sharpe
| R v Sharpe | |
|---|---|
|
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| Hearing: January 18, 19 2000 Judgment: January 26, 2001 |
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| Full case name | Her Majesty The Queen v John Robin Sharpe |
| Citations | [2001] 1 S.C.R. 45, 2001 SCC 2 |
| Ruling | Appeal allowed, charges remitted to trial. |
| Court Membership | |
| Chief Justice: Beverley McLachlin Puisne Justices: Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Charles Gonthier, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major, Michel Bastarache, Ian Binnie, Louise Arbour, Louis LeBel |
|
| Reasons given | |
| Majority | McLachin C.J. (paras. 1 - 130), joined by Iacobucci, Major, Binnie, Arbour and LeBel JJ. |
| Concurrence | L'Heureux-Dubé, Gonthier and Bastarache JJ. (paras. 131 - 243) |
R v Sharpe, [2001] 1 S.C.R. 45, 2001 SCC 2, is a Canadian constitutional rights decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Court upheld the child pornography provisions of the Criminal Code as a valid limitation of the right to freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In doing so, it reversed a ruling by the British Columbia Supreme Court. That opinion, issued by Justice Duncan Shaw, held that the law was what he called a "profound invasion" of rights of privacy and freedom of expression found in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.[1] Prior to its reversal by the higher court, the ruling sparked extensive public complaints, and more than half of the Members of Parliament called for action by the Prime Minister to override the ruling.[1]
Question of law[edit]
Interpreting "person" in accordance with Parliament's purpose of criminalizing possession of material that poses a reasoned risk of harm to children, it seems that it should include visual works of the imagination as well as depictions of actual people. Notwithstanding the fact that 'person' in the charging section and in s. 163.1(1)(b) refers to a flesh-and-blood person, I conclude that "person" in s. 163.1(1)(a) includes both actual and imaginary human beings.
— Supreme Court of Canada, R. v. Sharpe, Paragraph 38[2]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Walters, Gregory J. (2002). Human Rights in an Information Age: A Philosophical Analysis. University of Toronto Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-8020-8550-4.
- ^ R. v. Sharpe (26 January 2001). Retrieved February 20, 2006.
External links[edit]
- Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision available at LexUM and CanLII
