Capacities of Children and Mentally Disabled in Testimony
The Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that a more onerous test for determining capacity of the mentally disabled was not supported by a close reading of the Canada Evidence Act. See more on Slaw.
An important resource used by the majority in interpreting the Act was the so-called “Bala Report,” or the Brief on Bill C-2: Recognizing the Capacities & Needs of Children as Witnesses in Canada’s Criminal Justice System, Child Witness Project, attached below.
