Welcome to Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! This week, lawyer Kyla Lee discusses private prosecutions.
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.
Mr. Klippenstein started a private prosecution and before his case could get to court, the Attorney General intervened and stayed the private prosecution. This is surprisingly common in private prosecutions. Although the Crown is responsible for bringing prosecutions against individuals in Canada, there is a process by which private individuals can commence an action against other individuals for a violation of the law.
But, there is a rule that allows an Attorney General to just jump in and stay the charges without any other involvement in the case.
The problem is that there is a good public purpose reason for having private prosecutions. To give the Crown the right to end a private prosecution at any point at will, it essentially eliminates the real ability of Canadians to bring private prosecutions.
Watch the video for more.
