''R v Andrews'',

990 Year 990 ( CMXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Al-Mansur, Chancellor and effective ruler of Al-Andalus, conquers the Castle of Montemor-o-Velho (modern Portugal), expanding t ...

3 S.C.R. 870 is a decision of the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

on the freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

''. It is a companion case to ''

R v Keegstra ''R v Keegstra'', 9903 SCR 697 is a freedom of expression decision of the Supreme Court of Canada where the court upheld the ''Criminal Code'' provision prohibiting the wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group as constitutional u ...

''. The Court upheld the criminal provision that prohibits communicating statements that wilfully promote hatred.

Background

Donald Andrews was the leader of a

white supremacist White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

political group known as the

Nationalist Party of Canada The Nationalist Party of Canada is a Canadian white supremacist organization founded in 1977 by Don Andrews. It was initially known as the National Citizens Alliance and was established after Andrews was legally barred from associating with h ...

and Robert Smith was the party secretary. Together they were in charge of the party's bi-monthly magazine called the National Reporter which made claims against the Jewish and black peoples. Both Andrews and Smith were charged with "unlawfully communicating statements, other than in private conversation, which willfully promoted hatred against an identifiable group" contrary to s. 319(2) of the Criminal Code. At trial they were found guilty for promoting hatred. On appeal to the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...

Justice Cory found that section 319(2) violated section 2(b) of the ''Charter'' but could be justified under section 1. The question before the Supreme Court was # whether s. 319(2) of the ''Criminal Code'' violated section 2(b) of the ''Charter'', and if so, whether the violation was justifiable under section 1. # whether s. 319(3)(a) of the ''Criminal Code'' violated section 11(d) of the ''Charter'', and if so, whether the violation was justifiable under section 1. The court held that section 319(2) and 319(3)(a) violated the ''Charter'' but were saved under section 1.

Reasons of the majority

Chief Justice Dickson, writing for the majority, upheld the Criminal Code provisions. Dickson looked to his opinion in R. v. Keegstra and applied the reasoning from the decision came to the same conclusion that the law should be upheld.

External links

*
case summary at mapleleafweb.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews Canadian freedom of expression case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Section Two Charter case law 1990 in Canadian case law Neo-Nazism in Canada

Background

Reasons of the majority

See also

External links