Special issue of the Supreme Court Law Review. 27 Pages Posted: 30 Jan 2026 University of New Brunswick Faculty of Law Date Written: January 01, 2026 Draft of article forthcoming in "SCC at 150," special issue of the Supreme Court Law Review (2026). This article critiques the Supreme Court of Canada case of Rv Brown, striking down limitations to the use of the "extreme intoxication defence" to crimes of violence. The Court excluded women's equality rights from consideration under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the basis that they were mere "societal interests." However, I demonstrate that societal interests have not been broadly excluded under fundamental justice principles, nor do women’s rights fit the definition of “societal interests” provided by the Court. Thus, the Brown Court had no excuse for failing to consider women's equality rights in its fundamental justice analysis. Further, the law is that courts must consider women’s equality as a principle of fundamental justice (or at the very least, important context) in any case concerning the constitutionality of protections for victim-survivors of violence against women. In accordance with section 28’s guarantee of equal rights, courts should adopt a contextual analysis of all fundamental justice principles that meaningfully reflects that women (and their rights) matter. To conclude, I argue that the resulting ambiguity created by R. v Brown coupled with R. v J.J. regarding the status of women's equality within fundamental justice poses a potential risk to legislation that seeks to protect women from gender-based violence, such as “Clare’s law” statutes that permit police to inform women about their partner’s history of violence against other women. Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation P.O. Box 4400 Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5A3 Canada 1 506 453 4726 (Phone) Comparative & Non-U.S. Constitutional Law eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Law & Society: Public Law - Constitutional Law eJournal Subscribe to this free journal for more curated articles on this topic Women, Gender & the Law eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Gender, Politics & Justice eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic Gender & Social Protection eJournal Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic
Kerri Froc (Thu,) studied this question.