Accused pled guilty to two counts of sexual assault and received 6 months jail plus probation. Issue regarding the constitutional validity of s. 490.013(2.1) CC requiring him to comply with the requirements of the Sex Offender Registry for life. “The challenge is whether mandatory lifetime registration is in violation of s. 7.”
Held: SOIRA violates s. 7.
Case adjourned for Crown to call s.1 evidence. Accused was a low risk to re-offend. The 2011 changes to the legislation removed judicial discretion re: SOIRA orders. The impact on anyone having to comply with the reporting requirements of SOIRA is “considerable”: Redhead, 2006 ABCA 84. “The mandatory registration for all sex offenders upon conviction of two or more offences, without regard to the seriousness of the offences or the offender’s propensity to reoffend is overbroad. ..Subjecting all offenders, regardless of their future risk, to onerous reporting requirements, random compliance checks by the police, and internal stigma, goes further than what is necessary to accomplish the goal of protecting the public.”
E. Iginla – Defence Counsel