The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the mandatory addition of all sex offenders to the national sex offender registry is unconstitutional.
In a ruling this morning, the Supreme Court of Canada says mandatory registration of all sex offenders with more than one conviction goes too far.
In a five to four split, the top court ruled that anyone who has been added to the National Sex Offender Registry since 2011 can apply to have their status changed.
It also concludes that keeping offenders on the registry for the rest of their lives violates the Constitution.
Former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper’s 2011 changes to the Criminal Code required sex offenders’ names to be automatically added to the registry. Anyone convicted of two sex offences or more remains on the registry for life.
The changes meant judges no longer had the discretion to submit the names of sex offenders to the registry.
Prior to the 2011 change, a Crown prosecutor had to apply for a Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) order and ask a judge to decide whether the offender should be added to the sex offender registry.
The ruling came in the case of an Edmonton man, who was 19 was brought to a party publicized by an explicit ad on Facebook and sexually touched two women.
He pleaded guilty, served six months in jail with three years probation and is considered a minimal risk to reoffend.
Ndhlovu filed an appeal with the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, arguing his charter rights had been violated and the court agreed.
The court is giving Parliament one year to rewrite its law on mandatory registration, although the Edmonton man has been struck from the registry.
