CHEM 115 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Canlii, Fundamental Justice, Bandidos Motorcycle Club

12 views3 pages
17 Mar 2018
School
Department
Course

Document Summary

[63] whether excluding murder from the duress defence is consistent with the principle of moral involuntariness turns on the rationale underlying the defence and the interaction between that rationale and the proportionality requirement. Duress operates as an excuse and not a justification. [64] because duress operates as an excuse, harms of comparable gravity satisfy at least the first arm of the proportionality inquiry. The principle of moral involuntariness recognizes that the criminal law is designed for the common man, not for a community of saints or heroes : ruzic, at para. The criminal law cannot demand acts of heroism, but must instead set standards of conduct which ordinary men and women are expected to observe if they are to avoid criminal responsibility : r. v. howe, [1987] a. c. 417 (h. l. ), at p. 430; see also lynch, at p. 670. [65] moral involuntariness by its very nature demands a fact-intensive inquiry.