R. v. G.J.O.

R. v. G.J.O.

The court may consider both the nature and circumstances of the offence and the offender's personal circumstances when assessing whether SOIRA registration would be grossly disproportionate; applying that test here, the defence did not meet the heavy onus of proving gross disproportionality and a 20-year SOIRA registration order was required under s.490.012(considering offence nature, lack of repeated offending, psychiatric report and elapsed time).

Citation
2008 NSPC 59
Parties
Crown: The Queen; Accused: G.J. O.
Court
Nova Scotia Provincial Court
Jurisdiction
Canada
Judgment Date
25 September 2008
Procedural Posture
Criminal Sexual Assault / Sentencing (soira Exemption Application)
Outcome
SOIRA registration order granted for 20 years; prior joint sentencing imposed a one year conditional sentence (house arrest and counselling); DNA order made; publication ban maintained.
Legal Topics
SOIRA Exemption, S.490.012 Criminal Code, S.487.051 DNA Order, Victim Impact Statement, Risk of Recidivism
Source Language
English
Criminal Law Sentencing Privacy Law Sex Offender Registration SOIRA Exemption S.490.012 Criminal Code S.487.051 DNA Order Victim Impact Statement +1 more

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Parties

The Queen

Crown

G.J. O.

Accused

Procedural Posture

Criminal Sexual Assault / Sentencing (soira Exemption Application)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether to grant an exemption from Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) registration under s.490.012 of the Criminal Code
  2. 2 Whether registration would be grossly disproportionate to the public interest in protecting society and assisting police investigations
  3. 3 What relevance the nature and circumstances of the offence and the offender's personal circumstances have in the gross disproportionality analysis

Ratio Decidendi

The court may consider both the nature and circumstances of the offence and the offender's personal circumstances when assessing whether SOIRA registration would be grossly disproportionate; applying that test here, the defence did not meet the heavy onus of proving gross disproportionality and a 20-year SOIRA registration order was required under s.490.012(considering offence nature, lack of repeated offending, psychiatric report and elapsed time).

Court Disposition

SOIRA registration order granted for 20 years; prior joint sentencing imposed a one year conditional sentence (house arrest and counselling); DNA order made; publication ban maintained.

Orders

  • Order requiring compliance with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act for 20 years
  • Conditional sentence of imprisonment of one year including house arrest and requirement to undertake sex offender counselling (as previously imposed)