In October 2013 the British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in Carter v. Canada overturning the BC Supreme Court’s decision which, inter alia, determined that s.241(b) of the Criminal Code banning assisted suicide infringed a person’s s.7 Charter rights. The Court of Appeal could not distinguish Carter from the 1993 SCC decision in Rodriguez which upheld s.241(b) and found Rodriguez governed and accordingly overturned the lower court’s decision.

On January 16, 2014 the Supreme Court granted leave to appeal the BC Court of Appeal’s decision, which is an anticipated follow-up to the decisions in Rasouli.

Until next time,

Jasmine Sweatman