R. v. DeSousa

The DeSousa is a criminal law case involving a constitutional challenge to section 269 of the Criminal Code. Read literally, the section would hold someone criminally responsible for causing bodily harm by way of any unlawful act—even if the accused had no intention to commit the act or if the act itself wasn’t objectively dangerous.

On appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada from the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Court narrowed the section to cover only those acts that had their own “mental element” requirement and that were “objectively dangerous” in the sense that a reasonable person would know that they were subjecting someone else to the risk of bodily harm.

The appellant Joao DeSousa was represented by Frank Addario and Maureen Forestell.

Click here to read this criminal law case .