Beaver v. R.

Beaver v. R.

"Beaver v. The Queen" [1957] is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the mens rea requirement in criminal law to prove "possession". The Court held that an offence based on possession, such as possession of a narcotic, requires the Crown to prove that the accused had subjective knowledge of the nature of the object in possession.

Background

Louis Beaver and his brother Max Beaver were arrested selling heroin to an undercover RCMP officer and charged with possession and sale of an illegal narcotic under the Opium and Narcotic Drug Act. Max was the one in actual physical possession of the drug but Louis was charged by association as he knew Max had the heroin.

In defence, Louis claimed that he thought the package was milk sugar and that they were only trying to defraud the RCMP officer.

At trial, the judge instructed the jury by telling them that if they find that they were in possession their actual knowledge was irrelevant.

The issue before the Supreme Court was whether a conviction based on possession requires knowledge of the nature of the object.

Opinion of the Court

The Could held that knowledge was required. Cartwright J., writing for the majority stated that it is a fundamental principle of criminal law that the "mens rea" of an element of an offence must be proven to secure a conviction. It has been established that provisions in the Drug Act are criminal law, and that any offence that allows a punishment of prison requires proof of "mens rea".

The Court held that Beaver did not know the character of the substance, and he was acquitted of possession. However, he did represent the substance as a narcotic and therefore was convicted on the charge of selling a narcotic.

External links

*

ee also

*List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Richards Court through Fauteux Court)


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Beaver — (engl. für Biber) steht für: Beaver (Texteditor) De Havilland Canada DHC 2 Beaver, ein Flugzeug eine Nord Athabaskische Sprache Beaver, eine niederländische Rockband Ortschaften: Beaver (Alaska) Beaver (Arkansas) Beaver (Iowa) Beaver (Louisiana)… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Beaver — Beaver, AK U.S. Census Designated Place in Alaska Population (2000): 84 Housing Units (2000): 54 Land area (2000): 20.500953 sq. miles (53.097221 sq. km) Water area (2000): 1.094700 sq. miles (2.835259 sq. km) Total area (2000): 21.595653 sq.… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Beaver — Bea ver, n. [OE. bever, AS. beofer, befer; akin to D. bever, OHG. bibar, G. biber, Sw. b[ a]fver, Dan. b[ae]ver, Lith. bebru, Russ. bobr , Gael. beabhar, Corn. befer, L. fiber, and Skr. babhrus large ichneumon; also as an adj., brown, the animal… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Beaver — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Los Beaver o tsattine son una tribu na dené, cuyo nombre significaba “pueblo del castor”, o bien Dunne za (pueblo auténtico), razón por la cual fueron llamados en inglés Beavers (castores). Vivían en zonas montañosas …   Wikipedia Español

  • beaver — beaver1 [bē′vər] n. [ME bever < OE beofor: for IE base see BEAR2 ] 1. a) pl. beavers or beaver any of a family (Castoridae) of large rodents with soft, brown fur, chisel like teeth, webbed hind feet, and a flat, broad tail: they often gnaw… …   English World dictionary

  • Beaver, AK — U.S. Census Designated Place in Alaska Population (2000): 84 Housing Units (2000): 54 Land area (2000): 20.500953 sq. miles (53.097221 sq. km) Water area (2000): 1.094700 sq. miles (2.835259 sq. km) Total area (2000): 21.595653 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Beaver, AR — U.S. town in Arkansas Population (2000): 95 Housing Units (2000): 43 Land area (2000): 0.350521 sq. miles (0.907846 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.169694 sq. miles (0.439505 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.520215 sq. miles (1.347351 sq. km) FIPS code …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Beaver, IA — U.S. city in Iowa Population (2000): 53 Housing Units (2000): 26 Land area (2000): 0.256087 sq. miles (0.663263 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.256087 sq. miles (0.663263 sq. km) FIPS code:… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Beaver, OH — U.S. village in Ohio Population (2000): 464 Housing Units (2000): 226 Land area (2000): 0.390601 sq. miles (1.011653 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.390601 sq. miles (1.011653 sq. km) FIPS code …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

  • Beaver, OK — U.S. city in Oklahoma Population (2000): 1570 Housing Units (2000): 725 Land area (2000): 1.153875 sq. miles (2.988522 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 1.153875 sq. miles (2.988522 sq. km) FIPS… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”