R V. Keegstra Case Analysis

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court in Canada, the final court of appeal, and the last legal resort for all litigants; therefore, the Supreme Court of Canada decisions are the ultimate expression and application of Canadian law (Supreme Court of Canada tour). The landmark decision by the Supreme Court of Canada in the R v. Keegstra case regarding the freedom of expression portrays the theoretical concepts behind the court’s ruling as it is the job of the court to deliver a fair decision to the parties involved, as well as a decision that maintains law and order in society. The R v. Keegstra ruling contains insights from the consensus theory and the labelling theory, as the decision of the court was in the interest of the public. To better understand a criminal law case and come up with a conclusion, the theory used must have a valid structure and must follow the rules of critical thinking and logic (Boyd, Cartwright and Heidt, 2015: 120). Also, the purpose of the criminal law must be understood as criminal law serves a purpose, which takes into account some theoretical aspects of the consensus theory and …show more content…
In the case R v. Keegstra, the fundamental right to freedom of expression was used as a defence by Keegstra, who was charged under the criminal code for promoting hate speech (R v. Keegstra, 1990). Although the defence used was a constitutional and fundamental right, the Supreme Court found that the violation of a fundamental right by the criminal code was justifiable. The court ruled that section 319(2) of the criminal code was constitutional as the criminal code serves legitimate social purposes and aims to protect important social values; therefore, the Supreme Court of Canada sustained collective good and public order. (Jones, 2015: