Supreme Court rules mandatory sex offender registry is unconstitutional [Canada]

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https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/supreme-court-mandatory-sex-offender-registry-unconstitutional

Supreme Court rules mandatory sex offender registry is unconstitutional

The decision means an Edmonton man who molested a sleeping woman will not be subject to a mandatory lifetime listing on the sex offender registry

Author of the article:Joseph Brean
Publishing date:Oct 28, 2022 • 5 hours ago

Mandatory listing on Canada’s sex offender registry is, for some offenders, an unjustified infringement on their liberty that is not rationally connected to the goal of investigating or preventing sexual crimes, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Automatic lifetime listing in the case of multiple sexual offences is similarly “overbroad,” the court decided in striking down both laws to permit discretion by sentencing judges.

The decision means Eugene Ndhlovu, an Edmonton man who molested a sleeping woman and groped another at a party, will not be subject to a mandatory lifetime listing on the sex offender registry. Having served a two year sentence and probation, he will be free of its many reporting requirements, surveillance schemes, and non-compliance penalties that include jail time.

Imposing those automatically, with no regard to an offender’s circumstances or risk of re-offending, is not justified by any rational connection to the goal of investigating and preventing offences, the court ruled. The legislative purpose of the lifetime listing in the case of multiple offences was to target offenders with greater risk to re-offend, but it catches people, like Ndhlovu, “who are not at an increased risk of committing a future sex offence,” the Supreme Court decided.

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