As the province weighs its legal response to a Supreme Court ruling striking down Canada’s prostitution laws, defense lawyers in Alberta are urging justice officials to stay charges currently before the courts.
The precise number of defendants facing prosecution for prostitution-related offences isn’t known, but Alberta Justice and Solicitor General said there are 400 charges that are affected by the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling last December.
“To continue prosecuting people under these laws is really unfair and is contrary to what the Supreme Court said,” said Shannon Prithipaul, president of the Criminal Trial Lawyers’ Association, one of two groups that represent members of the defence bar in Alberta.
Although exchanging sex for money isn’t illegal, the Criminal Code has provisions against soliciting for sex, living off the earnings of prostitutes and keeping a brothel.
Calgary police are no longer no longer conducting plainclothes operations targeting street-level prostitution, partly because of the Supreme Court ruling striking down Canada’s prostitution laws. (Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald)
More on Alberta and the Criminal Code prostitution provisions in flux
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