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R. v. Shlah

2019 SCC 56 [2019] 4 SCR 136 Court SCC Decision date 2019-11-15 Heard 2019-11-15 Docket 38661, 38677 English

PartiesAssmar Ryiad Shlah Appellant·Her Majesty The Queen Respondent·Franz Emir Cabrera Appellant

Judges Abella, Rosalie Silberman; Moldaver, Michael J.; Karakatsanis, Andromache; Côté, Suzanne; Brown, Russell; Rowe, Malcolm; Kasirer, Nicholas

Delivered by Moldaver J. (Abella, Karakatsanis, Côté, Brown, Rowe and Kasirer JJ. concurring)

On appeal from Alberta

Contents

Reasons for Judgment — Moldaver J. (Abella, Karakatsanis, Côté, Brown, Rowe and Kasirer JJ. concurring)

Moldaver J. — The appeals are dismissed substantially for the reasons of Chief Justice Fraser. We agree with the majority of the Court of Appeal that the charge to the jury does not disclose a reviewable error, and the jury’s verdicts were not unreasonable.
However, we do not endorse para. 27 of the majority’s reasons to the extent it may be taken as suggesting that the reviewing court must identify an extricable error as a precondition to concluding that the jury’s verdict was unreasonable. A determination that the jury’s verdict was unreasonable is itself an error of law warranting appellate intervention.