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Professor Steve Coughlan has been teaching criminal law at the Schulich School of Law for 25 years. He has shared his extensive research in this area of the law as the author of several books, including Learning Canadian Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Detention and Arrest, and his newest publication, The Anatomy of Criminal Procedure.

One of the things that Coughlan makes clear in all of his classes is just how outdated Canada鈥檚 Criminal Code is. Parliament is responsible for it, but the last major overhaul took place back in the 1950s, and over the past three decades innumerable accuracies have crept in.

A few years ago, Coughlan decided to do something about it. Shortly after the Liberals came to power in 2015, he asked fellow academics teaching criminal law in Canada to sign a letter highlighting the flaws in the Criminal Code and urging Parliament to take action. The result was a letter signed by 50 academics that he emailed to the federal justice minister.

鈥淲e pointed out the flaws that were negatively affecting the decisions being made in court,鈥� says Coughlan. 鈥淲e also said that an updated edition would make the law accessible and understandable, which it currently isn鈥檛.鈥�

Coughlan cites several examples of the Criminal Code鈥檚 need for an update, such as the offence of alarming Her Majesty, with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison. It was also against the law to sell 鈥渃rime comics鈥� like Batman and Superman, an offence that was inserted in the 1950s.

A systematic overhaul

鈥淓veryone involved in the criminal justice system in Canada uses the Criminal Code, and in its current state it鈥檚 inaccurate and inefficient,鈥� says Coughlan. To further confuse those who consult it, the same word, such as 鈥渨illfully鈥濃�� or 鈥減urpose,鈥� has different meanings in different sections. You won鈥檛 find sexual assault in the section on sexual offences; instead, it鈥檚 in 鈥渙ffences against the person.鈥� And although abortion hasn鈥檛 been illegal since 1988, Parliament had never removed it.

A colleague once said that it鈥檚 easy for academics to criticize, but that it鈥檚 hard to work out the right things to do鈥攁nd that鈥檚 what academics should be doing.鈥�

Since he sent the letter to the government, Coughlan has spoken to senators and members of the House of Commons on the importance of having a current, user-friendly Criminal Code鈥攁nd his efforts have made an impact. Dozens of outdated offences have been removed, including alarming the Queen and selling crime comics. In addition, offences that have been struck down by courts, such as abortion, have now been removed.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good start, but we really need a complete systematic overhaul,鈥� says Coughlan, who remains involved with the process. 鈥淭his is just the beginning, and it鈥檚 hard to know how to continue. A colleague once said that it鈥檚 easy for academics to criticize, but that it鈥檚 hard to work out the right things to do鈥攁nd that鈥檚 what academics should be doing.鈥�