The Lawyers Weekly - July 20, 2012

SCC sets out need for
‘structure and continuity’

CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA

A Crown bid to expand the types of criminal conspiracies that can be punished more harshly as “organized crimes” has been rebuffed by the Supreme Court of Canada.

In a 7-0 judgment July 6, Justice Morris Fish sets out the court’s first interpretation of the complex intertwined measures added to the Criminal Code in 2001 to supplement the 1997 anti-gang law.

The provisions widened the definition of “criminal organization” and created offences targeting gang leaders and members and gang associates.

Before a person can be con-
victed of these two offences, the
Crown must prove the person
was a member, or associate, of a
“criminal organization.” If con-
victed, the person is subject to
tougher penalties, such as con-
secutive sentences.

Stuart
Cameron

much organized, and you sud-
denly call them ‘criminal organ-
izations,’ ” he explained.

“In some respects the court’s been careful in saying that some degree of organization is required to implicate you in an organized crime, but it doesn’t say that it has to be like the Mafia-type full-scale [structure],” said Stuart.

Former senior Ontario pros-
ecutor, Graeme Cameron of
Toronto’s Lindsay Cameron
Proulx, said the court’s “flexible”
approach offers “very helpful
guidance”. He noted “the formal
hierarchy of some traditional
organized crime groups bears lit-
tle relation to the fluid structures
of street gangs.” The court affirms
that such issues as whether a
group is organized “are best dealt
with as questions of fact” in line
with a plain reading of the legis-
lation, Cameron said.

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