Supreme Court of Canada Strikes Down Prostitution Laws

I had mentioned the lower court ruling on this when it was handed in 2012; today the Canadian Supreme Court affirmed in a decision you can read here. From the summary by the Globe and Mail:

The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down the country’s major prostitution laws, saying that bans on street soliciting, brothels and people living off the avails of prostitution create severe dangers for vulnerable women and therefore violate Canadians’ basic values.

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, writing for a unanimous court, stressed that the ruling is not about whether prostitution should be legal or not, but about whether Parliament’s means of controlling it infringe the constitutional rights of prostitutes.

“Parliament has the power to regulate against nuisances, but not at the cost of the health, safety and lives of prostitutes,” she wrote.

“The prohibitions all heighten the risks. . . . They do not merely impose conditions on how prostitutes operate. They go a critical step further, by imposing dangerous conditions on prostitution; they prevent people engaged in a risky – but legal – activity from taking steps to protect themselves from the risks.”

The court suspended its ruling for one year to give Parliament time to respond.

Thanks to How Appealing for the link.

Powered by WordPress. Designed by Woo Themes