520 Criminal Procedure (O'Neill & Al-Khatib)

LAW 520

Criminal Procedure

(O’Neill & Al-Khatib)

Prerequisite courses: 

Prerequisite for: 

Instructor(s): Edmond O’Neill & Zachary Al-Khatib

Course credit: 3

Method of presentation: Lecture

METHOD OF EVALUATION

Evaluation will be based on a final examination that will be worth 100% of your grade. The exam will be open book. 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will provide students with an overview of both the investigative and the adjudicative phases of the Canadian criminal process. The investigative phase starts with an exploration of police authority to detain, search, seize, question and arrest individuals. Special attention will be given to the limitations imposed on each of these police powers by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The course will then shift to a consideration of the adjudicative phase of the criminal procedure after charges are formally brought, including intake procedures, bail, disclosure (the effects of non-disclosure and/or lost evidence), election and plea, preliminary inquiries, the right to trial within a reasonable time and plea bargaining. The course will then focus on the trial, including trial venue, jury selection and trial procedure.  The exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence under the Charter, as well as the availability of other constitutional remedies, will also be addressed. Sentencing will be addressed as well. No discussion of criminal law, and in particular sentencing, would be complete without consideration of Indigenous perspectives.  

SPECIAL COMMENTS

Description updated 2022-23. Please contact the instructor for any specific questions you may have related to this particular course section.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

• Penney, Rondinelli & Stribopoulos, Criminal Procedure in Canada, Third Edition (2022) 

• Criminal Code and related statutes

• Assigned cases

Having a Criminal Code is strongly recommended for the final exam. You may choose to purchase a Criminal Code from the bookstore or another vendor (annotated or un-annotated).