Life, Liberty & Security of the Person (s.7)

Section 7 of the Charter guarantees the Canadians have the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived of these things except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

This Charter right is often cited as support for an accused person’s “right to silence” and is closely connected to the presumption of innocence. Greg DelBigio has considerable experience defending the Section 7 rights of clients. For a recent Supreme Court of Canada case where Mr. DelBigio successfully represented his client in connect to the right to silence and post offence conduct see R. v. Turcotte.

He has also appeared in the Supreme Court of Canada on other cases involving Section 7 rights. For example, Mr. DelBigio represented the Canadian Bar Association in whether s. 83.28 of the Criminal Code (a post 9/11 Code amendment, providing judicial authority to conduct investigatory hearings to gather information on terrorist offences) infringed s. 7. He also co-counsel for the CBA in New Brunswick (Minister of Health and Community Services) v. G. (J.), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 46.

Most recently, Mr. DelBigio made submissions to the Supreme Court of Canada on behalf of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association in Charkaoui v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2007 SCC 9, a case reviewing the constitutional validity of security certificates issued under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act…