An Act to amend the Criminal Code (self-induced extreme intoxication)
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (self-induced extreme intoxication). Royal assent June 23, 2022 (S.C. 2022, c. 11). Direct legislative response to the Supreme Court of Canada's May 13, 2022 decisions in R. v. Brown and R. v. Sullivan, which struck down section 33.1 of the Criminal Code (the previous statutory bar on the extreme-intoxication defence for general-intent offences) as a Charter violation. C-28 re-enacts section 33.1 in a narrower form that requires proof of objective foreseeability that the intoxication could cause a person to harm another. The bill moved through Parliament in roughly six weeks, a deliberately expedited timeline criticized by some defence-bar groups for limiting consultation. Sponsored by David Lametti as Minister of Justice.
Status
Quick learn
Closed the legal loophole that the Supreme Court's R. v. Brown ruling had opened on self-induced extreme intoxication. Restored a Charter-compliant version of the ban so that someone who voluntarily becomes extremely intoxicated cannot use that as a defence to a violent crime.
Issues this bill touches
- Crime & Public Safety
Self-induced extreme intoxication response to R. v. Brown.
Legislative history
- First reading
First reading in the House of Commons.
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Second reading in the House of Commons.
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Third reading in the House of Commons.
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First reading in the Senate.
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Second reading in the Senate.
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Third reading in the Senate.
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Royal assent received.
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Sponsored by
David LamettiLIBERALOfficial source
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