| R v Brown | |
|---|---|
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| Hearing: November 9, 2021 Judgment: May 13, 2022 | |
| Full case name | Matthew Winston Brown v. Her Majesty The Queen |
| Citations | 2022 SCC 18 |
| Docket No. | 39781 [1] |
| Prior history | Judgment for Crown in the Court of Appeal for Alberta |
| Holding | |
| Section 33.1 of the Criminal Code violates section 7 and section 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and cannot be saved under section 1 | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice | Richard Wagner |
| Puisne Justices | Michael Moldaver, Andromache Karakatsanis, Suzanne Côté, Russell Brown, Malcolm Rowe, Sheilah Martin, Nicholas Kasirer, Mahmud Jamal |
| Reasons given | |
| Unanimous reasons by | Kasirer J |
R v Brown, 2022 SCC 18, is a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of section 33.1 of the Criminal Code, which prohibited an accused from raising self-induced intoxication as a defence to criminal charges. The Court unanimously held that the section violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and struck it down as unconstitutional. The Court delivered the Brown decision alongside the decision for its companion case R v Sullivan.[2][3][4]
The case was a successor to the Court's controversial 1994 landmark decision in R v Daviault, which held the common law "Leary rule", which restricts intoxication from being used as a defence, while constitutional to the extent it relates to normal forms of intoxication, could not be justified as it related to extreme forms of intoxication akin to automatism. The case had sparked outcry, which served as a catalyst for Parliament enacting section 33.1.[5][6][7] Parliament would likewise respond to the Brown ruling, this time by amending section 33.1.[8]
- ^ SCC Case Information - Docket 39781 Supreme Court of Canada
- ^ R. v. Brown., 2022 CanLII 39781, [2022] S.C.C. 18 (2021: November 9, 2021; May 13, 2022), Supreme Court (Canada)
- ^ "Intoxication can be violent crime defense, Canada supreme court rules". the Guardian. Reuters. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ Grant, Meghan (2022-05-13). "Supreme Court rules extreme intoxication defence available for violent crimes in Alberta, Ontario decisions". CBC News. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ Fine, Sean (2021-10-02). "Supreme Court's fall clean-up: Nearly 40 years after Charter's birth, judges must settle old questions again". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ Jones, Robert (Nov 25, 2014). "R v Daviault Case Brief | CanLII Connects". Canlii. Retrieved 2022-05-13.
- ^ "Law barring use of extreme intoxication as criminal defence unconstitutional: SCC". CTVNews. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-05-14.
- ^ "Extreme intoxication bill will become law after Senate, House expedite its passage". CTVNews. 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2022-07-05.