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A July 17 decision by the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld Section 63 of the Criminal Code of Canada--"unlawful assembly"--against a challenge by local lawyer Julius Grey. The six appellants named in Grey's suit were charged at the "Commando Bouffe" food-grab at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel on December 3, 1997. But Grey says the case was more about changing Section 63 than simply getting some activists off the hook.

"The law's a violation of people's freedom of expression," says Grey. "Some people can't express their political views any other way, they can't write newspaper articles, so they demonstrate. If the demonstration becomes unruly, they might end up with a criminal record. It has a chilling effect." Grey plans to appeal to the Supreme Court, and, if it is heard and Grey wins, then hundreds of other activists arrested in events like the Westmount Mayday demo and the March 15 anti-police-brutality riot will see their charges under Section 63 dropped.

MUC Police Commander André Durocher says the law has not been used arbitrarily or excessively. But he adds that it is one of the few sections of the criminal code where you can get charged without demonstrating any criminal intent. Says Durocher, "It does put the onus on the individual to not be in the wrong place." :

--John Edmonds

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