Constitutional Litigation

ECD has been at the forefront in using the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in assuring that the civil rights and liberties of our clients are respected. Since 1982, we have litigated thousands of criminal trials involving the Charter of Rights.

We believe that the constitutional guarantees contained in the Charter lie at the very heart of criminal law. The defence lawyer’s pledge to uphold the presumption of innocence must perservere in the face of changing social mores, heaving political tides and the most unpopular causes and formidable of cases. 

Our democracy is defined by the way our criminal justice system responds to charges involving the least popular causes and the most reviled accused persons.

One example of exceptional constitutional advocacy by ECD lawyers was the successful defence and Charter challenges mounted against the Secrecy of Information Act (formerly the Official Secrets Act) in the case of O'Neill v. Canada (Attorney General), which resulted in the striking down of unconstitutional provisions of that Act.