R v Jorgensen
| R v Jorgensen | |
|---|---|
| Hearing: February 21, 1995 Judgment: November 16, 1995 | |
| Full case name | Randy Jorgensen and 913719 Ontario Limited v Her Majesty The Queen |
| Citations | [1995] 4 SCR 55, 129 DLR (4th) 510, 1995 CanLII 85 |
| Docket No. | 23787 |
| Prior history | Appealed from the Ontario Court of Appeal, R. v. Jorgensen (1993), 86 CCC (3d) 245 (Ont CA), R. v. Jorgensen, [1992] OJ No 2889 (Ont Prov Div) |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice: Antonio Lamer Puisne Justices: Gérard La Forest, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, John Sopinka, Charles Gonthier, Peter Cory, Beverley McLachlin, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major | |
| Reasons given | |
| Unanimous reasons by | Sopinka J. |
| Concurrence | Lamer C.J. |
| Laws applied | |
| Criminal Code, s. 163 | |
R v Jorgensen, [1995] 4 S.C.R. 55 is a Supreme Court of Canada decision on the knowledge requirement for criminal offences. The Court held that the offence of "knowingly" selling obscene materials requires that the accused be aware that the dominant characteristic of the material was the exploitation of sex and that he knew of the specific acts which made material obscene. Where the accused has a suspicion of the dominant characteristics or specific acts of the material but decided not to make any further inquiries then the accused will be deemed to have known of the material's content. This decision confirms much of what was held in the earlier case of R. v. Sansregret.