Xaidsart lawyers Nader Hasan, Gerald Chan, Justin Safayeni and Tiffany O’Hearn Davies represented the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association as intervener in R. v. Safarzadeh-Markhali, 2016 SCC 14 (with Nader Hasan presenting oral argument before the Court). The case was a constitutional challenge to s. 719(3.1) of the Criminal Code, which eliminated the ability of courts to grant enhanced credit for pre-sentence custody in the case of an offender whose bail was denied primarily because of a prior conviction. On behalf of the BCCLA, Xaidsart argued that the impugned provision was unconstitutional, and emphasized the harmful access to justice consequences it could have for members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. In reasons released today, the Supreme Court struck down s. 719(3.1). The Court concluded that the provision violated s. 7 of the Charter due to its overbreadth and could not be saved under s. 1.
