REAL Women of Canada Media Release. December 20, 2013.
The Supreme Court of Canada appears to be in a tizzy over Canada’s prostitution laws which it has struck down.
In doing so, the Supreme Court tossed out the window the fundamental legal principle of stare decisis, which means that the court is bound by its previous decisions.
In 1991 the Supreme Court held that the law against soliciting for prostitution was constitutionally valid in that it protected communities as well as prostitutes. Since it has changed its mind on this matter, can we now expect the Supreme Court to reverse its decisions on other issues, for example, on assisted suicide (1993, Sue Rodriquez), same-sex benefits (1999, M v H), same-sex marriage (2004, Reference), or the Vancouver drug injection site (2011, Insite)?
The Supreme Court of Canada certainly is no longer a court of last resort but rather is a court of interim opinion.
The only positive outcome from this decision is that Canada’s prostitution laws will be remodeled so that they will finally provide genuine protection for women and communities, from trafficking and from control by organized crime.
Clearly, the decriminalization cannot stand. We know what happened ion the Pickton farm in B.C., where the police created a de facto zone of tolerance for prostitution and this led to lawlessness, the freedom to pick up women, and led to their deaths.
Canada has learned that its prostitution law was inadequate in the flexible views of the Supreme Court. Hopefully the Conservative government will now develop a more positive and effective law to protect women and communities.
Source: REAL Women of Canada