R v Latimer

rdf:langString R v Latimer

rdf:langString [2001] 1 SCR 3; 2001 SCC 1; , 193 DLR 577; [2001] 6 WWR 409; , 150 CCC 129; , 39 CR 1; , 80 CRR 189; , 203 Sask R 1

rdf:langString Judgment for the Crown in the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan

rdf:langString The ten-year minimum sentence in this case did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the fairness of the trial was not compromised by the lateness of the decision on whether the jury could consider the defence of necessity.

rdf:langString R v Latimer, [2001] 1 SCR 3 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the controversial case of Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer convicted of murdering his disabled daughter Tracy Latimer. The case had sparked an intense national debate as to the ethics of what was claimed as a mercy killing. In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the crime could not be justified through the defence of necessity, and found that, despite the special circumstances of the case, the lengthy prison sentence given to Latimer was not cruel and unusual and therefore not a breach of section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court also ruled that Latimer was not denied rights to jury nullification, as no such rights exist. The prison sentence was thus upheld, although the court specifically noted that the federal government had the power to pardon him.

rdf:langString R v Latimer

rdf:langString Robert William Latimer v Her Majesty The Queen

rdf:langString Bastarache and LeBel JJ

rdf:langString yes

rdf:langString Conviction and prison sentence upheld