Ccrf Section 7 Essay

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Relevant Canadian Laws Firstly, Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice” (Government of Canada). This section of the CCRF applies to all Canadians, and in relation to capital punishment, overrules it greatly. Section 7 protects an individual's right to life, and thus, the government must not directly or indirectly cause death to a person. Since capital punishment involves the intentional ending of one’s life, it is a direct contradiction of the right to life stated in Section 7. Further, it can also be argued that capital punishment infringes upon another segment of Section 7, the right to security of the person, which applies to situations where physical or mental health is put …show more content…

Section 7’s rights to life, liberty, and security of the person are all violated by capital punishment, along with the principles of fundamental justice in Canada (Centre for Constitutional Studies). Section 12’s prohibition of cruel punishment is violated, as the physical suffering associated with capital punishment is deemed excessive (vLex). In this case, the government would have to give grounds for capital punishment considering the concept of extradition, by applying Section 1 to determine whether or not the limitations of these rights are justified. After considering the violations, Canada held that extradition, in the case of the possibility of capital punishment, would be deemed unconstitutional under the CCRF, though, they had permitted the extradition once ensured that capital punishment was not to be sought (CanLII: US v.