Mandatory Basic Fact Presumptions: The Reality of Misrepresentation Over the Internet
The Presumption of Innocence Section 11(d) of the Charter protects the presumption of innocence. It provides: 11. Any person charged with an offence has the right… (d) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal. A statutory presumption infringes s. 11(d) if its effect is that an accused can be convicted even though the trier of fact has a reasonable doubt as to the accused’s guilt: R. v. St-Onge Lamoureaux , 2012 SCC 57 (CanLII), [2012] 3 S.C.R. 187 , at para. 24 ; R. v. Vaillancourt , 1987 CanLII 2 (SCC), [1987] 2 S.C.R. 636 , at pp. 654-656 . Mandatory basic fact presumptions – the “inexorable connection” test A mandatory basic fact presumption substitutes proof of the basic fact for proof of an element of the offence. The s. 11(d) Charter concern with a mandatory basic fact presumption is that, in allowing the Crown to prove only the basic fact instead of a...