Comment apprécier la défense de minimis non curat lex face à de la violence contre une partenaire intime & le seul cas où cette défense fût retenue en cette matière

R. v. Grizzle, 2024 ONCJ 300

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[69]      Patience and resort to lawful means to resolve a dispute must always be chosen over an act of intimate partner violence. While I agree with Mr. Cotton-O’Brien that the context of the offences must be considered, in my view, the societal values associated with intimate partner violence will almost always preclude the successful application of the defence of de minimis or “consent fight”: see R. v. Carson, 2004 CanLII 21365 (ONCA), at para. 25; Gosselin c. R, 2012 QCCA 1874, at para. 40; R. v. Downey, 2002 NSSC 226, at para. 37.

[70]      That is not to say the defence could never succeed in a case of intimate partner violence. In R. v. R.M., 2024 ONCJ 272, the accused was charged with assault. He removed his wife’s wedding ring from her finger without her consent. He caused her no pain and only had to resort to minimal force: see para. 20. Justice Campitelli viewed this as “trivial in nature” and dismissed the charge: see para. 22.