Mr. Zeeh

The defendant was charged with aggravated assault after stabbing the complainant, his cousin, during an altercation.

The defendant claimed self-defence.

The court assessed the credibility of the intoxicated witnesses, noting inconsistencies in the complainant's testimony and his criminal record for assault with a weapon.

Applying the principles of self-defence under section 34 of the Criminal Code, the court found that the Crown failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defence, leading to the dismissal of the charge.

The applicants, charged with drug trafficking and conspiracy to import heroin, brought a constitutional challenge to section 36 of the Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters Act (MLACMA).

The Crown sought to introduce documents from Pakistan regarding heroin seizures without requiring the applicants to test the evidence through cross-examination.

The applicants argued that section 36 violated their Charter rights to a fair trial and full answer and defence by permitting the admission of hearsay evidence without any assessment of threshold reliability.

The court found that section 36 fundamentally altered the rules governing hearsay admissibility in a manner inconsistent with fair trial rights and declared the provision unconstitutional.