Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses mutual legal assistance.
Acumen Law Corporation lawyer Kyla Lee gives her take on a made-in-Canada court case each week and discusses why these cases should have been heard by Canada’s highest court: the Supreme Court of Canada.
Dexter Boyce was convicted of drug trafficking offences and drug importation offences. At trial, the Crown’s case relied largely on information that was obtained from Panama through the Mutal Legal Assitance Compact.
Mr. Boyce argued at trial that he shouldn’t be convicted on the basis of the fact that the mutual legal assistance compact was unconstitutional. The trial judge and the Court of Appeal exercised their discretion not to decide the constitutional issue – determining that it could have no impact on the outcome of the case.
Mr. Boyce sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, and they also refused to hear the case.
By refusing to hear this case, the SCC missed an important opportunity to clarify a law that comes up very rarely but has significant impacts on the procedural rights and Charter protected interests of individuals facing charges for only the most serious of criminal offences.
Watch the video for more.