Present: Lamer C.J. and Sopinka,
Gonthier, McLachlin and Stevenson JJ.
on appeal from the court of appeal of
ontario
Criminal
law ‑‑ Telecommunications ‑‑ Decoders ‑‑
Decoders intended to access telecommunication facility without payment of
lawful charge ‑‑ Possession of pay television decoders by
television repair shop ‑‑ Use of decoder known ‑‑
Section extending to warehousepersons who know intended use of decoder ‑‑
Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C‑46, s. 327(1) .
Statutes
and Regulations Cited
Criminal
Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C‑46, s. 327(1) .
APPEAL
from a judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal (1988), 46 C.C.C. (3d) 427,
32 O.A.C. 44, setting aside acquittals by Borins Dist. Ct. J.
Appeal dismissed.
James
A. Ironside, for the appellant.
David
Finley, for the respondent.
The
judgment of the Court was delivered orally by
LAMER C.J. --
Thank you Mr. Ironside. It will not be necessary to hear from you Mr. Finley.
The Court is prepared to hand down judgment now. Our colleague, Justice
Sopinka, will pronounce judgment for the Court.
SOPINKA J. --
We are all in agreement with the unanimous reasons of the Court of Appeal with
respect to their interpretation of s. 327(1) of the Criminal
Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C‑46 (formerly
s. 287.1(1) ). In view of this interpretation, we also agree that the
Court of Appeal was right to set aside the acquittals and substitute
convictions on the two counts charged. The appeal to this Court therefore
fails and is accordingly dismissed.
Judgment
accordingly.
Solicitors
for the appellant: Shaw, McLellan & Ironside, Collingwood.
Solicitor
for the respondent: The Attorney General for Ontario, Toronto.
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