Supreme Court of Canada Rules That “Swingers Clubs Don’t Harm Society”
December 21st, 2005 by HeadMistress Jade
(Pic is of a statue outside the Supreme Court of Canada building)
Compiled from a variety of news articles:
Clubs that allow group sex and partner swapping do not harm Canadian society, and should not be considered criminal, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today.
In a ruling that radically changes the way courts determine what poses a threat to the population, the top court threw out the conviction of a Montreal man who ran a club where members could have group sex in a private room behind locked doors.
“Consensual conduct behind code-locked doors can hardly be supposed to jeopardize a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society,” said the opinion of the 7-2 majority, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.
The decision does not affect laws against prostitution because no money changed hands among the adults having sex. The high court, which was ruling on two Quebec cases, said Canadian standards can tolerate the activities, even when they are done with spectators. The judges said the test for indecency is the harm it causes, and not simply community standards.
The cases involve two swingers’ clubs in Montreal that allowed sex acts, including the swapping of partners. One case involved James Kouri, owner of a club called Coeur à Corps. He was convicted by a lower court on two counts of keeping a common bawdy house, and fined $7,500.
The other case involved Jean-Paul Labaye who ran a members-only club called L’Orage. He was convicted of keeping a bawdy house and fined $2,500. (A bawdy house is defined as a place where prostitution or acts of public indecency took place.)
At the Court of Appeal, however, the cases took different turns. Labaye’s conviction was upheld while Kouri’s conviction was overturned. Now the Supreme Court has given a favourable ruling for the defendants in both cases. Attorneys for Labaye and Kouri in Montreal argued that consensual sex among groups of adults behind closed doors was neither indecent nor a risk to society. The Supreme Court judges agreed.
“Criminal indecency or obscenity must rest on actual harm or a significant risk of harm to individuals or society. The Crown failed to establish this essential element of the offense. Its case must therefore fail,” McLachlin wrote.
In indecency cases, Canadian courts traditionally have probed whether the acts in question “breached the rules of conduct necessary for the proper functioning of society.” The Supreme Court ruled that from now on, judges should pay more attention to whether society would be actively harmed.
The judges said that just because most Canadians might disapprove of swingers’ clubs, this did not necessarily mean the establishments were socially dangerous. “The causal link between images of sexuality and anti-social behavior cannot be assumed. Attitudes in themselves are not crimes, however deviant they may be or disgusting they may appear,” the judges said, noting that no one had been pressured to have sex or had paid for sex in the cases the court considered.
“The autonomy and liberty of members of the public was not affected by unwanted confrontation with the sexual activity in question … only those already disposed to this sort of sexual activity were allowed to participate and watch,” they said.
They also dismissed the idea — raised during Labaye’s original trial — that group sex was dangerous because it could result in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. “Sex that is not indecent can transmit disease while indecent sex might not,” they ruled.
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Just one more reason why kinky Americans might want to consider moving north of the border. I always said that Montreal was a wonderfully kinky city, didn’t I??? (big wicked grin)
~ Mistress Jade Dragon
8 Responses to “Supreme Court of Canada Rules That “Swingers Clubs Don’t Harm Society””
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Mistress Cesca wrote on 12/22/05 at 1:41 am :
That is IT! South Park be dammed. I am so moving to Canada!
Mistress Cesca
HeadMistress Jade wrote on 12/22/05 at 2:00 am :
Mistress Cesca,
Well, you’d be more than welcome to come visit and “try out” Montreal, I think you’ll find it one of the kinkier cities in Canada…
Toronto has a larger population and therefore a larger kink community, but I find that Montreal is really cool because of the more “European” way of thinking and living. This is probably one of the only cities in North America where you can find a church and an erotic boutique within a block of each other!!
~ Mistress Jade
Domina Jade wrote on 12/22/05 at 3:19 am :
Woo Hoo!!!
I am not a swinger, but this is still damn good news. Great article find Jade.
~ other Jade
HeadMistress Jade wrote on 12/22/05 at 4:29 am :
DJ,
Although I’ve visited L’Orage in the past (after JP left to start Le Chateau), I’m not very much into the swinging scene….
However, I am hoping that this legal interpretation of “obscenity” will help to open doors in the long run, and may hopefully have positive long term effects for the Canadian kink community as a whole….
~ Mistress Jade
Savage wrote on 12/22/05 at 5:00 pm :
I like seeing stuff like this.
Even though it’s more for the benefit of my friends and neighbors over the northern border. It still lends a bit of faith in humanity in general.
Thanks for posting this Mistress Jade!
Regards,
Savage
SarumanMTL wrote on 12/23/05 at 1:00 am :
Gee, next thing you know, Dominatrices will be legal and they’ll need to charge GST and QST.
Saruman
Doc Sonar wrote on 12/23/05 at 1:29 am :
Excellent news Mistress Jade! Great precedent… following this lead would be perfect for the US…
Peace,
Doc Sonar
HeadMistress Jade wrote on 12/23/05 at 2:31 am :
Savage Grace & Doc Sonar,
Yes, it is a good sign… a small beginning.
However, I think that this sort of change is very unlikely in the United States, given the trend these past few years under the Bush administration. All we can hope for is that once he is out the door in a few years that things might take a turn for the better…
Almost makes me wish for the days of good ole horny Clinton; he truly didn’t seem all that bad when you consider what is happening now of days with our southern neighbours…
As a kinky Canadian, I am quite happy to be living here — in that I seem to have a greater latitude to be able to express and explore my kink without worrying excessively about how the law might interpret it.
PS: Thanks for dropping by!
~ Mistress Jade Dragon