The intoxication defense in Canada
Why women should care
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11057105 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elizabeth Sheehy (Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa (57 Louis-Pasteur, P.O. Box 450, Station A, Ottawa, Ont. KIN 6N5, Canada).), Elizabeth A Sheehy (Ottawa University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1996 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 595-630 |
| Publication date | 1996-12-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Contemporary Drug Problems (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0091-4509 • E-ISSN: 2163-1808 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/009145099602300405 |
| OpenAlex | W1561891033 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
This paper examines the impact on women — as victim/witnesses and as accused persons — of the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R v. Daviault regarding the defense of intoxication.Prior to the decision in Daviault, the defense of intoxication was available for only one class of criminal offenses: those described as specific intent offenses (defined below). The defense was therefore absolutely barred for all other offenses, including sexual assault, manslaughter and common assault. The effect of Daviault is to make a new defense, that of extreme intoxication, available for all of these general intent offenses. If successful, the defense means that men accused of sexual assault, wife assault, and femicide will be acquitted and not subject to any sanctions.This paper is divided into three sections. Section I gives an overview of the law of the intoxication defense and the impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the law and on the resulting Daviault decision. Section II analyzes the implications of Daviault for women who have been victimized by violent offenders and for women charged with criminal offences. Section III provides a description and an assessment of options for reform of the law after Daviault including those canvassed by the Department of Justice in its recodification project
Charter · Criminal Code · Criminal law · Criminology · Medical emergency · Poison control · Political science · Sanctions · Self defense · Sexual assault · Suicide prevention · Supreme court · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law · Legal Systems and Judicial Processes · Medicine · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
|---|