R. v. Noble
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| R. v. Noble | |||||||||
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| Hearing: October 29, 1996 Judgment: April 24, 1997 |
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Chief Justice: Antonio Lamer |
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Majority by: Sopinka J. |
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R. v. Noble, [1997] 1 S.C.R. 874 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the right to silence under section 11(c) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court held that the silence of an accused cannot be given any independent weight.
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[edit] Background
A building manager found two young men, one named Sean Jeffrey Noble, in the building's parking lot. One was attempting to break into a car using a screwdriver. He asked Noble for identification, to which he provided his driver's licence. The manager held onto the licence and called the police.
At trial, the manager could not identify Noble without the driver's licence. The judge allowed the use of the picture but noted that though it provided for a tougher case to meet the accused still remained silent. The judge inferred that it was able to draw a negative inference from this silence that strengthened the Crown's case. Noble was convicted, but the judgment was set aside on appeal.
[edit] Ruling of the Court
Justice Sopinka, for the majority, dismissed the appeal. He held that there can be no independent weight given to an accused silence. He justified this on the basis that to adduce weight to silence would violate the right to silence and the presumption of innocence under the Charter.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM
- I. Lanig, "R. v. Noble: The Supreme Court and the Permissible Use of Silence" (1998) 43 McGill L.J. 643 [1]
