When an inmate in a provincial correctional facility in Saskatchewan is charged with a disciplinary offence, the governing legislation requires the institutional authorities to determine, on a balance of probabilities, that the offence occurred in order to establish guilt. The John Howard Society of Saskatchewan asserts that employing this standard of proof violates s. 7 of the Charter. It submits that proof beyond a reasonable doubt is necessary to withstand constitutional scrutiny.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal disagreed. The Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to appeal to determine whether and to what extent the presumption of innocence operates as a principle of fundamental justice in non-criminal settings.

The Crown appealed, and the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal agreed with the Crown that the trial judge erred in finding that the evidence of threats and violence towards the complainant was “past discreditable conduct.” However, the Court of Appeal held that the error could not have impacted the trial judge’s findings because a finding of exploitation or attempted exploitation rested on the evidence of the complainant, which was ultimately not accepted at trial. The appeal was dismissed.

 The dissenting judge however, held that had the trial judge not made such a grave evidentiary error, the verdict may very well have not been the same. She emphasized that the Crown was entitled to rely on the evidentiary presumption in S. 279.01(3) of the Criminal Code. The dissenting judge would have set aside the acquittals and ordered a new trial.