Top Five 2010: R v JZS

Each year at OJEN’s Toronto Summer Law Institute, a judge from the Court of Appeal for Ontario identifies five cases that are of significance in the educational setting. This summary, based on these comments and observations, is appropriate for discussion and debate in the classroom setting.

R v JZS, 2010 SCC 1, [2010] 1 SCR 3

In this case, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) upheld the provisions in place to facilitate a child’s testimony during a trial, while still protecting the rights of the accused.  In a rare move, the SCC did not release a full judgment, and just deferred to the decision of the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) (see BCCA’s decision here)