Skip to main content
Article
The End of Constitutional Exemptions
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
  • Stephen Coughlan, Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Keywords
  • Section 12,
  • R v Ferguson,
  • Mandatory Minimum Sentence,
  • Constitutional Exemption,
  • Supreme Court of Canada,
  • Charter Violations
Abstract

In R. v. Ferguson (reported ante p. 197) the Supreme Court decided that constitutional exemptions are not available as a remedy when a mandatory minimum sentence is said to violate section 12 of the Charter. This is a well reasoned and sensible decision. As mandatory minimum sentences are the context in which the possibility of the constitutional exemption as a Charter remedy has most frequently arisen, as a practical matter Ferguson largely disposes of the issue. Nonetheless, a further clarification at some point that constitutional exemptions are not available in any context, for other violations of section 12 or of any other Charter right, would be a laudable follow-up.

Citation Information
Steve Coughlan, "The End of Constitutional Exemptions" (2008) 54 CR (6th) 220.