R v Latimer

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R v Latimer
Supreme Court of Canada
Hearing: June 14, 2000 Judgment: January 18, 2001
Full case name	Robert William Latimer v Her Majesty The Queen
Citations	[2001] 1 SCR 3; 2001 SCC 1; (2001), 193 DLR (4th) 577; [2001] 6 WWR 409; (2001), 150 CCC (3d) 129; (2001), 39 CR (5th) 1; (2001), 80 CRR (2d) 189; (2001), 203 Sask R 1
Prior history	Judgment for the Crown in the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan
Ruling	Conviction and prison sentence upheld
Holding
The ten-year minimum sentence in this case did not amount to cruel and unusual punishment under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; the fairness of the trial was not compromised by the lateness of the decision on whether the jury could consider the defence of necessity.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Beverley McLachlin Puisne Justices: Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Charles Gonthier, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major, Michel Bastarache, Ian Binnie, Louise Arbour, Louis LeBel
Reasons given
Unanimous reasons by	The Court
Bastarache and LeBel JJ took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

R v Latimer, [2001] 1 SCR 3 was a decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the controversial case of Robert Latimer, a Saskatchewan farmer convicted of murdering his disabled daughter, Tracy Latimer. The case sparked an intense national debate as to the ethics of what was claimed as a mercy killing.^[1] In its decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the crime could not be justified through the defence of necessity and found that, despite the special circumstances of the case, the lengthy prison sentence given to Latimer was not cruel and unusual and therefore not a breach of section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court also ruled that Latimer was not denied rights to jury nullification, as no such rights exist. The prison sentence was thus upheld, although the court specifically noted that the federal government had the power to pardon him.