What is the burden of convincing the court that a violation of the Charter of Rights or Freedoms was committed?

Alberta, Canada


The following excerpt is from R. v. Glubish, 2010 ABPC 174 (CanLII):

Glubish is presumed to be innocent unless and until the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt each and every essential element of the offences described above. With respect to the Charter, s.24 applications, however, the burden of proving violation(s) of constitutionally‑protected rights rests with Glubish. Violation(s) must be proven on a balance of probabilities. In Collins v. The Queen, 1987 CanLII 84 (SCC), [1987] 1 S.C.R. 265, Lamer J. (as he then was) stated: The appellant, in my view, bears the burden of persuading the court that her Charter rights or freedoms have been infringed or denied. That appears from the wording of s. 24(1) and (2), .... The appellant also bears the initial burden of presenting evidence. The standard of persuasion required is only the civil standard of the balance of probabilities and, because of this, the allocation of the burden of persuasion means only that, in a case where the evidence does not establish whether or not the appellant's rights were infringed, the court must conclude that they were not. [citations omitted]

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