Author Archives: Lisa Silver

About Lisa Silver

Lisa Silver is a proud Calgarian, lawyer, educator, and avid blogger. She holds a B.A. in Economics (UWO, 1984), LL.B. (Osgoode, 1987), and LL.M. (Calgary, 2001). She is a member of the Bars of Ontario (1989) and Alberta (1998). As a criminal lawyer, Lisa has appeared before all levels of Court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Presently, she is an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary, Faculty of Law, where she teaches criminal law, evidence and advocacy. Lisa also maintains her own law blog at www.ideablawg.ca where she does a podcast series on the Criminal Code. Her blog was recognized with a 2017 Clawbie – Canadian Law Blog Award in the Law Professor/Law School category. Lisa also sits on various Boards and committees. She has presented at many conferences and workshops.

Regulating Covid-19 From the Criminal Law Perspective

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Regulating Covid-19 From the Criminal Law Perspective

The focus of this post is criminal law. This is a bold statement considering we are, with this COVID-19 crisis, currently deeply within the regulatory world. There is so much to unpack in the area of regulation and COVID-19 that to focus on one area is dissatisfying. There are, however, many of my colleagues both here in Alberta and across the country discussing various aspects of the regulatory “new normal”. Specifically, I suggest a look at ABlawg where there are a number of COVID-19 related posts from colleagues writing in their areas of expertise such as statutory interpretation and law-making, health, human rights, environmental and energy law. Many of these areas overlap with the criminal law perspective but I will try to keep this post anchored in more classical criminal law concerns. This will require a discussion of regulatory offences, specifically those arising in the time of COVID-19, which enforce a regulatory scheme through the criminal sanction. By using criminal law concepts to enforce the regulatory scheme, these regulatory offences are subject to those criminal law legal principles which describe, define and confine offences. In this discussion, I will look at the general precepts of regulatory offences, how this form of liability connects to traditional criminal law concepts and then apply our knowledge to a COVID-19 measure involving social or physical distancing. This application will be done through a survey of that measure across Canada to identify the ways in which we are responding in the context of regulation. This survey will provide the basis for some preliminary recommendations based on lessons learned through the review of these regulatory, and in some instances, non-regulatory measures. Continue reading →

Being in the Moment: An Analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in R v Chung

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Being in the Moment: An Analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in R v Chung

Case Commented On: R v Chung, 2020 SCC 8 (Can LII)

Mindfulness, according to Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction), is “the psychological process of bringing one’s attention to the internal and external experiences occurring in the present moment, which can be developed through the practice of meditation and other training.” Leaving aside how one can develop mindfulness, this concept of being “in the moment” has received much attention of late. Mindfulness is everywhere. It focuses on how we can bring more awareness to those reflexive and automatic activities we do throughout the day. This emotional and physical awareness allows us to better control the reactions we have to the stressors of life. Mindfulness also has a place in the legal world as seen in the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Chung, 2020 SCC 8 (Can LII). In that case, the Court, in essence, applies the process of mindfulness to the two issues under consideration; whether the Crown appeal against an acquittal raises a question of law and if so, whether the trial judge erred in applying the incorrect legal test required in assessing the objective mens rea of dangerous driving. Continue reading →

Does the Criminal Law Have the Capacity to Respond to the Intoxicated Automaton?

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Does the Criminal Law Have the Capacity to Respond to the Intoxicated Automaton?

Case Commented On: R v Brown, 220 ABQB 166

I am at the point in my 1L criminal law class where we start talking about capacity issues, namely whether a person by virtue of mental disorder, automatism and/or intoxication has the capacity to commit a criminal offence. This is a complex and controversial area of the law. In discussing these issues, we criss-cross across the lines between legal, medical and policy concerns. We wade through case law stretching back decades that sometimes fundamentally change the common law and at other times hold strictly to it. Although each capacity issue involves detailed legal tests, when these issues arise together, the legal directions become overly complex and downright confusing. This “perfect storm” of capacity issues arise in the recent decision of R v Brown, 220 ABQB 166, challenging our legal conception of capacity and leaving us wondering whether the criminal law has the capacity to adequately respond. Continue reading →

Binding The Courts: The Use of Precedent in Sentencing Starting Points

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: Binding The Courts: The Use of Precedent in Sentencing Starting Points

Cases Commented On: R v Felix, 2019 ABCA 458; R v Parranto, 2019 ABCA 457

The Alberta Court of Appeal recently released two companion decisions on sentencing starting points in R v Felix, 2019 ABCA 458, and R v Parranto, 2019 ABCA 457. In Felix and Parranto, the Alberta Court of Appeal considers the appropriate sentencing starting point for an offender involved in the wholesale trafficking of fentanyl, an insidious and dangerous drug responsible for the deaths of many Albertans. These decisions are prime examples of how an appellate court grapples with precedential authority in arriving at the final outcome. In this post, I will discuss these cases as exemplars of this precedential process, which lies at the heart of the rule of law under our common law system. These decisions give us a glimpse of the complexities of precedent, in cases where there is no issue of whether precedent should be followed but rather on the issue of how best to follow it. Continue reading →

A Lesson in First Year Criminal Law Principles: How The Supreme Court of Canada “Modifies” Objective Mens Rea Offences in R v Javanmardi

By: Lisa Silver

PDF Version: A Lesson in First Year Criminal Law Principles: How The Supreme Court of Canada “Modifies” Objective Mens Rea Offences in R v Javanmardi

Case Commented On: R v Javanmardi, 2019 SCC 54 (CanLII)

As I come to the close of the first half of teaching 1Ls criminal law principles, I review the course syllabus for the second half of the course to revise, delete, and add relevant case readings. Next term, I will discuss those crimes, which require the objective form of liability or objective mens rea. Although this area was once rife with disagreement and fractured alliances at the Supreme Court of Canada level, at the time of formulating last year’s syllabus, objective mens rea offences, such as unlawful act manslaughter and criminal negligence causing death, were well-defined both in terms of actus reus (prohibited act) and mens rea (fault element). However, the law can and does change; either through clarification or modification of accepted legal rules and principles or through the creation of completely new ones. In R v Javanmardi, 2019 SCC 54, the most recent Supreme Court of Canada decision on objective mens rea offences, it appears the Court has done more than clarify and modify what was a settled area of law but has, arguably, radically re-defined the legal tests and principles forobjective mens rea offences in the Criminal Code. This article will attempt to deconstruct the majority decision, authored by Justice Rosalie Abella, in an effort to understand the significance of this decision and the future impact it will have to this area of law. Continue reading →