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Message #146 Next Previous Supreme Court of Canada approves fraud! - 13 Jul, 12:21 PM OTTAWA (CP) - The Supreme Court of Canada has tightened the legal definition of breach of trust, making it potentially harder to obtain criminal convictions against politicians or public servants charged with corrupt conduct. In a 7-0 ruling, the court overturned a previous guilty verdict against Denis Boulanger, the police chief of Varennes, Que. He was charged after asking a subordinate to write a traffic accident report that helped clear his daughter of blame for insurance purposes. The high court said Boulanger's actions and intentions were not serious enough to merit a conviction. It's the first time the Supreme Court has laid down a detailed definition of breach of trust under Criminal Code provisions that have been on the books since 1893. The court said, in effect, that not every action that raises ethical questions is necessarily illegal. It takes a higher standard of proof to convict someone of a criminal offence than it does to impose sanctions under a disciplinary or ethical code. |
