[62] In paragraph 40 of White, supra, Iacobucci J., stated “that there exists, in Canadian law, a principle against self-incrimination that is a principle of fundamental justice under section 7 of the Charter”. In defining the principle against self-incrimination, the said jurist adopted the definition stated by Lamer C.J. in the case of Regina v. Jones, 1994 CanLII 85 (SCC), [1994] 2 S.C.R. 229, as follows: The principle against self-incrimination, in its broadest form, can be expressed in the following manner: …the individual is sovereign and… proper rules of battle between government and individual require that the individual … not be conscripted by his opponent to defeat himself… . Any state action that coerces an individual to furnish evidence against him-or herself in a proceeding in which the individual and the state are adversaries violates the principle against self-incrimination. Coercion, it should be noted, means the denial of free and informed consent.
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