Victim advocates question end of spousal immunity

Pillow talk could become court testimony soon, and that prospect has perplexed some experts who are examining the government’s new Victims Bill of Rights. A section in the bill would remove spouses’ legal immunity from testifying against one another.

Unveiled Thursday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the bill is supposed to emphasize victims’ rights in the justice system, including their right to stay informed about criminal cases that involve them. So some advocates have no idea why the issue of spouses giving evidence against each other appears in the legislation.

“It is somewhat related because it’s a criminal law issue, I guess,” said the president of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association, Anthony Moustacalis. “But ... it’s adding something else that isn’t directly related to a bill of rights.”

Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the bill’s proposal to lift spousal immunity is part of the government’s plan to “improve the truthseeking exercise of getting all the evidence before the court. By virtue of having spousal immunity to testify in some very important cases — and we’re talking cases of murder, terrorism, fraud — spouses may, in fact, possess key evidence that the trial judge should hear,” he said in an interview with the Citizen.

Steve Sullivan, former federal om- budsman for the victims of crime, and current president of Ottawa Victim Services, said he was surprised to see the proposal in the victims’ rights bill. “It’s not something I’ve heard raised by victims, by victim service workers, by victim advocates ... and I’ve worked in the field for 20 years.” Of the victims’ bill itself, he said, “It falls very short of the expectations the minister created. And I think that’s a shame, because that’s actually more dangerous that doing nothing.”