Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses disclosing absolute discharges.
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.
Claudio Montesano was originally convicted and sentenced for an assault against his domestic partner. He was granted an absolute discharge which meant essentially that there was no sentence to serve and he wouldn’t have a criminal record.
According to Canadian law, an absolute discharge can only be disclosed with the prior written consent of the Public Minister of Safety and Emergency Preparedness. Despite this, in the context of his criminal case, the judge was made aware of his prior absolute discharge after a document was handed up to the judge that indicated that he had previously received a discharge for a similar offence.
This case raises a very important issue because what is the point of having a protection written into our law that this can’t be disclosed if there’s actually no consequence if it is in the course of a sentencing?
Watch the video for more.
