| ID: |
HARP-313 |
| Title: |
Bouncing Boundaries and Breaking Boundaries: The Case of Assisted-Suicide and Criminal Law in Canada |
| Source: |
Crime, Law and Social Change, 1998-1999, 30, 2, 131-162 |
| Parties: |
|
| Dispute Resolution Organ: |
|
| Year: |
1989 |
| Pages: |
0 |
| Author(s): |
Joane Martel |
| Keywords: |
Canada, court, human rights, law, politics, civil and political rights, crime, criminal law, Supreme Court, suicide, self-determination |
| Abstract: |
Discusses the implications of assisted suicide for criminal law in Canada, drawing on an extensive study of the 1993 Sue Rodriguez case in the Supreme Court of Canada. It is shown that this particular case forced Canadian society to rethink some of its long-standing sociolegal boundaries. The current social debate on assisted suicide poses new demands on criminal law, particularly on the judicial tradition since the courts are presently ill-equipped to respond to cases that demand to give content to new human rights that do not yet have a legal substance. The Rodriguez case revealed the emergence, on the judicial & political scenes, of certain community groups, restructuring the traditional power relations linked to the social regulation of assisted suicide. A change in the boundaries surrounding the accepted use of criminal law toward an administrative (risk management) rather than punitive use is shown. |
| Secured: |
False |
| Download Article: |
Available here |
Keywords: Canada, civil and political rights, court, crime, criminal law, human rights, law, politics, self-determination, suicide, Supreme Court
