Davies Acts for British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Before the Supreme Court of Canada 

The Supreme Court of Canada recently allowed the appeal in the case of John Howard Society v. Saskatchewan (Attorney General). A majority of the Court held that the standard of proof for inmate disciplinary proceedings in Saskatchewan must be "beyond a reasonable doubt," the same standard that applies in disciplinary proceedings under federal corrections regulations. A majority of the Court held that the imposition of a balance of probabilities standard of proof violated both sections 11(d) and 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), without a valid justification under section 1. This decision affirms the need for robust procedural fairness protections for inmates where further loss of liberty hangs in the balance. The three dissenting judges would have found no breach of either sections 11(d) or 7.

The intervener, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, proudly represented by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg and by Alexeev Attorneys in this important constitutional challenge, argued that section 7 of the Charter should be interpreted as offering just as much protection as the specific procedural guarantees contained at sections 8-14, including the presumption of innocence specifically guaranteed at section 11(d). The Supreme Court agreed with this argument by finding that even if s. 11 did not apply, s. 7 would require a “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof.

The team included Jean-Philippe Groleau and Alexandra Belley McKinnon (Davies, Public Law), as well as Molly Krishtalka (Alexeev Attorneys).”