Author Archives: Ashton Menuz

About Ashton Menuz

B.Comm (Hon.) (Queen’s University), J.D. Student (University of Alberta), Summer Student (Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP). Ashton is currently a summer student at the Calgary office of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. She will be entering her second year of law school at the University of Alberta in September 2015 and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Queen’s University. Prior to entering law school, Ashton worked at a large pipeline company and a public accounting firm.

Keep It To Yourself: The Private Use Exception for Child Pornography Offences

By: Joshua Sealy-Harrington and Ashton Menuz

PDF Version: Keep It To Yourself: The Private Use Exception for Child Pornography Offences

Case Commented On: R v Barabash, 2015 SCC 29

Last month, the Supreme Court of Canada revisited the Private Use Exception – a defence to the possession and creation of child pornography – in R v Barabash, 2015 SCC 29. The unanimous judgment, authored by Karakatsanis J, clarified the analytical framework relating to the Private Use Exception and elaborated on how courts should assess exploitative relationships in which child pornography may be made. This post explains the Private Use Exception, describes its evolution in the jurisprudence, and explores questions left unanswered by the Court’s decision in Barabash.

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