Temporal Application of Criminal Law Reforms in Canada

Adhithya presents a clear, case-driven account of how courts managed legal change before the Charter. The talk maps the core tools that structured transitional questions in criminal law: the presumption against retroactivity, protection of vested rights, strict construction of penal statutes when ambiguity remained, and the substantive-versus-procedural distinction. It then shows how judges balanced fairness to the accused with clear legislative intent, grounding the analysis in the principle of legality. Attendees will leave with a concise framework they can apply to modern reforms that raise temporal issues in charging, sentencing, and appeals. 

This event will not be livestreamed. 

Adhithya Krishnan has an Honours Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University and a Masters of Global Affairs from The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. He is currently pursuing a JD at the Allard School of Law in UBC. He is passionate about the intersection of law and global markets and how they work to shape geopolitics in the emerging multipolar world order.