Driving Law

Defences

Defences are arguably the most important procedure during a trial, as it is the last resort for the accused to be found innocent. Defences strictly relate to the Charter as Section 11 (d) states” to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal”. Given that legislation, defences play a critical role, as the accused must use a selected defence that would best prove their innocence. The charter of rights and freedoms governs the way citizens’ act, and are treated. The charter of rights and Freedoms designs to be in favour of the citizens as it serves our best interests. However, not all counties are treated this way. In Mexico, for an accused person, one of the most critical differences is that under Mexican criminal law, the accused is essentially considered guilty until proven innocent. This would never be the case in Canada, as our Charter protects citizens from such mishaps.

The Criminal code of Canada explicitly outlines the definition of every crime and the entailed provisions. However the criminal code must abide the Charter of rights and freedoms as they are in essence intertwined. The criminal ode cannot breach, or contradict any rights pertaining to citizens that are stated in the charter. As such, both legislations are taken into consideration when the accused is being charged with a crime. An example of this would be, when an accused is charged with murder. The criminal code says” (c.1) had been convicted of attempted murder or conspiracy to commit murder or to cause another person to be murdered and, on the date of the application, is serving a sentence of imprisonment for that offence.” As the criminal code insist that the accused be charged with imprisonment, section 11-(d) states that the accused has the right to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. Therefor the accused has the right to show his innocent, even though the criminal code states that murder leads to imprisonment. Through this example it is evident that the Criminal Code and the Charter are intertwined when dealing with an offence.

Purpose of defences

The main purpose of a defence is to protect the accused during a trial. In order to convict the accused the crown must prove beyond reasonable doubt. Simultaneously, the accused has the opportunity to prove their innocence based on established defences. Theoretically, defences play a crucial role in Canadian politics. Canada is a democratic country, with alleged fair laws. Given that, defences reflect Canadian political state as citizens are allowed to prove their innocence. This makes Canada seem as a fair country as it gives citizens opportunities, and control. Communist countries such as North Korea have strict outlines of their laws and if the authorities believed citizens have broken the