This course provides an in-depth review of the law governing the prosecution and defence of sexual offences in Canada. The course is taught through a procedural lens, focusing on the statutory provisions and caselaw that dictate different stages of a sexual offence prosecution. The course will provide an overview of the various sexual offences in Canada, the defences available to an accused (consent, honest but mistaken belief in communicated consent, mistaken belief in age), pretrial motions and evidentiary issues that frequently arise (section 276/complainant’s sexual activity, section 278/third party records or Mills applications, section 278.92/records in possession of the accused or “Ghomeshi applications”), and ancillary considerations that arise at preliminary hearing and/or trial (testimonial aids, publication bans). This is an advanced criminal law course.
- Teacher: Danielle Ching McNamee
- Teacher: Lana Walker