R. v. S.S., (1999) 178 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 219 (NFCA)

• Judge: Mahoney, Cameron and Green, JJ.A.
• Court: Court of Appeal (Newfoundland)
• Case Date: February 12, 1998
• Jurisdiction: Newfoundland and Labrador
• Citations: (1999), 178 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 219 (NFCA)

R. v. S.S. (1999), 178 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 219 (NFCA);

    544 A.P.R. 219

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [1999] Nfld. & P.E.I.R. TBEd. SE.003

S.S. (appellant) v. Her Majesty the Queen (respondent)

(96/183)

Indexed As: R. v. S.S.

Newfoundland Supreme Court

Court of Appeal

Mahoney, Cameron and Green, JJ.A.

August 6, 1999.

Summary:

A youth was convicted of breaching a condition of his probation to keep the peace and be of good behaviour as a result of certain behaviour that occurred while he was at school. The youth appealed.

The Newfoundland Court of Appeal dis­missed the appeal.

Criminal Law - Topic 5723

Punishments (sentence) - Probation or probation order - Conditions - "Keep the peace and be of good behaviour" - A youth was charged with breaching a condition of his probation order to keep the peace and be of good behaviour - The trial judge did not differentiate between the obligation to keep the peace and the obligation to be of good behaviour and convicted the youth - On appeal, the Newfoundland Court of Appeal stated that the obligation to keep the peace was distinct from the obligation to be of good behaviour with different (although overlapping) legal content - See paragraphs 6 and 9.

Criminal Law - Topic 5731

Punishments (sentence) - Probation or probation order - Breach of - A student subject to a probation order attempted to crush a calculator while seated at another student's desk - An altercation with his teacher ensued - The student was defiant, used foul and insulting langauge and dis­turbed the class - The student struggled with the teacher over possession of keys to a filing cabinet - The Newfoundland Court of Appeal affirmed that the student had breached a condition of his probation order to keep the peace and be of good behav­iour - The student disrupted or disturbed the public peace, tranquillity and order in the classroom and may have committed the offence of causing a public disturbance - The element of physical violence in the struggle, when viewed in context of the other disruptive behaviour, constituted a breach of the peace - This breach consti­tuted a failure to be of good behaviour.

Criminal Law - Topic 8809

Young offenders - Decisions (incl. punish­ments) - Probation - [See Criminal Law - Topic 5731 ].

Cases Noticed:

R. v. Docherty, [1989] 2 S.C.R. 941; 101 N.R. 161; 78 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 315; 244 A.P.R. 315; 51 C.C.C.(3d) 1; 17 M.V.R.(2d) 161; 72 C.R.(3d) 1, refd to. [para. 9].

R. v. Stone (1985), 55 Nfld. & P.E.I.R. 231; 162 A.P.R. 231; 22 C.C.C.(3d) 249 (Nfld. T.D.), refd to. [para. 9].

Frey v. Fedoruk, [1950] S.C.R. 517 reving. (1949), 95 C.C.C. 206 (B.C.C.A.), refd to. [para. 11].

R. v. Barker (1967), 3 C.R.N.S. 58 (Y.T. Mag. Ct.), refd to. [para. 13].

R. v. Lohnes, [1992] 1 S.C.R. 167; 132 N.R. 297; 109 N.S.R.(2d) 145; 297 A.P.R. 145, refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. R.G. (1993), 166 N.B.R.(2d) 351; 425 A.P.R. 351 (Prov. Ct.), refd to. [para. 17].

R. v. Johnston (S.R.) (1993), 90 Man.R.(2d) 43 (Q.B.), refd to. [para. 18].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, vol. 4, p. 252 [para. 15].

Dalton, Michael, The Countrey Justice (1655), p. 212 [para. 14].

Williams, Granville, Arrest for Breach of the Peace, [1954] Crim. L.R. 578, gen­erally [para. 13, footnote 1].

Counsel:

Joan Dawson, for the appellant;

Wayne Gorman, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on February 12, 1998, by Mahoney, Cameron and Green, JJ.A., of the Newfoundland Court of Appeal. Green, J.A., delivered the following judg­ment for the court on August 6, 1999.