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Criminal - NCR - Reasons. Manrique (Re)
In Manrique (Re) (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal allows an NCR appeal, here remitting the case back to the ORB before a new panel.
The court finds 'inadequate reasons' for the ORB's decision, here on the issue of the 'significant threat' standard:[9] However, while we recognize that the Board set out the proper test for establishing a significant threat to public safety, the Board’s reasons were insufficient to explain how it reached the conclusion that the appellant meets that standard. As noted by the Board, this court has emphasized that the significant threat standard is an onerous one. In our view, the Board’s assertion that there would be “a predictable decline in [the appellant’s] mental status leading to decompensation and a heightened risk to public safety” does not explain how the appellant meets the significant threat standard. Further, the Board’s statements about the treating psychiatrist not being able to guarantee post-discharge forensic support and its reference to the “ideal scenario” of non-forensic support being “adequately in place” suggest the Board may have been focused on minimizing any risk created through granting the appellant an absolute discharge rather than properly assessing whether he met the significant threat threshold. . R. v. Ivins
In R. v. Ivins (Ont CA, 2024) the Ontario Court of Appeal allows an inadequate reasons appeal against the trial judge in an NCR case:[6] We accept the Crown’s concession and allow the appeal on the basis that the trial judge’s reasons were wholly inadequate. In these circumstances, reasons for finding an accused person NCRMD must go beyond merely agreeing to a joint proposal. At a minimum, a trial judge is required to articulate the test under s. 16 of the Criminal Code and explain why the evidence before the court justified the NCRMD verdict: R. v. Laming, 2022 ONCA 370, 413 C.C.C. (3d) 409, at paras. 63-64; R. v. Capano, 2014 ONCA 599, 314 C.C.C. (3d) 135, at paras. 45-52. The appellant was entitled to know in more detail why he was found NCRMD.
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