Professor Robert Diab: rdiab at tru dot ca

Office Hours: by appointment

Class times: Tuesdays and Thursdays 8:30 to 9:50 am

This file in pdf:

Course description (from the ‘Course Calendar’):

This course provides an anatomy of criminal conduct and its legal treatment, utilizing a limited range of criminal offences. Students examine the designation of human conduct as criminal and consider the social, cultural and political forces involved. Other topics include: the development of the criminal process in English common law, its translation to Canada and embodiment in the Criminal Code; the substantive elements of a criminal offence, including both physical and mental elements; the common law and code defences; procedural, tactical, ethical and evidential problems associated with criminal prosecution at both the pre-trial and trial stages; the sentencing process; and the position at law of the victim.

Objectives:

The objective of this course is to provide students with a solid foundation in Canadian criminal law and procedure. Students will be expected to:

1. understand and critically assess (a) the role of police, prosecutors, defence counsel and judges in the administration of the criminal law process; (b) the principles of criminal responsibility and punishment; and (c) the effect of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms upon both criminal procedure and substantive criminal law.
2. understand and critically assess various theories and perspectives on the purposes and functions of the criminal law and criminal justice system and on the competing interests that both serve;
3. develop an ability to engage in open and respectful discussion about legal issues; and
4. demonstrate competence in identifying legal issues in a problem and to present, in an acceptable legal style, arguments in relation to such issues.

Required Texts:

Cases found on Canlii.org or the SCC’s database at scc-csc.lexum.com