NCJ Number
92415
Date Published
1982
Length
68 pages
Annotation
Canada's Law Reform Commission recommends that statutory provisions governing the common law forms of criminal contempt of court be incorporated into the Criminal Code.
Abstract
Criminal contempt of court in Canada is not currently defined by statute, as its rules are essentially contained in case law. This is inconsistent with the recognized principle of legality and further leads to the public's negative and inaccurate perception of contempt as a protection of the court's selfish authoritarian interests through the muzzling of criticism. In recognizing that much criticism of contempt-of-court rules results from ignorance of the basic principles and rules of contempt, the Commission proposes the codification of contempt-of-court rules to demystify certain concepts and clearly explain the rationale for having the offenses. After examining contempt of court in relation to the principles of freedom of expression and information as well as the rights of the accused, the contempt-of-court offenses are described as disruption of judicial proceedings, defiance of judicial authority, affront to judicial authority, and interference with judicial proceedings. Rules of procedure and miscellaneous amendments are then presented under the topics of jurisdiction, appeal, repeal of unnecessary sections of the Criminal Code, sentencing, prosecution, time limitation, and judges as neither compellable nor competent witnesses. The proposed legislation is presented.