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The Violation Of The Charter

Decent Essays

Although Canadians are guaranteed freedom of expression under s. 2 (b) of the Charter, these rights are not guaranteed according to s. 1 of the Charter. S.1 of the Charter states that a violation of its rights set out, is acceptable only if it demonstrably justified. If a law is reasonably justified, then the violation of the Charter right is acceptable. There are two steps to determine if the law is justifiable: 1. The objective of the law must be pressing and substantial and 2. The law has to be proportional. 1. Pressing and Substantial: According to the Supreme Court judges, s. 163 of the Criminal Code is pressing and substantial. To argue this point, the judges looked at the objective of the law. Many people believe that this law was enacted due to moral disapprobation, however it was enacted to protect people, especially women, from harm. The two minority judges agree that law is their to protect people from harm, but due to the fact that we find it morally objective to allow people to suffer from harm. The minority judges are correct in their reasoning because morality extends further then differences in taste or opinion that the Majority judges relied on, when deny that this law was based on morality. Nevertheless, in obscene sexual materials portray certain people as mere objects and depict human relationships as one that is degrading, humiliating, victimizing and violent. This is potentially harmful because, if one is constantly exposed to certain types of

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