Correspondent: COURT CHALLENGES PROGRAM October 17, 2000 Dear Sir/Madam: Please find attached an application for funding from the Court Challenges Program. Also enclosed are two binders of material to support the application. I have volunteered to act as a liaison for the individuals initialing this application. At present these individuals are forming an organization that will speak on their behalf collectively. Shortly, there will be an appointment of a main spokesperson. In the meantime I have the authority to represent the group of individuals with respect to this matter. I have provided a telephone number and other contact information above. Please contact me at your convenience should you require further information. Yours truly,
October 30, 2000 Dear _________: This letter is further to our telephone conversation of ________. On behalf of the group I apologize for not making it clearer in the application that we are seeking funds for case development, rather than for initiating legal action. We are not ready to proceed with litigation at this time. We must do further research, gather our resources together, and find a lawyer with the required background and experience. The budget that we submitted with our application reflected the anticipated cost of additional research and consultation. We do not feel our case is sufficiently developed at this point to go to court on the basis of that budget. I hope this clarifies the nature of our application. Do not hesitate to contact me at the telephone number provided above if you require further information. Yours truly,
March 30, 2001 I am writing in response to an application received in our office on October 18, 2000, in which you applied for Case Funding from the Court Challenges Program with respect to a challenge to subsections 268(3) and (4) of the Criminal Code. The Equality Rights Panel considered your application at its in-person meeting on March 3-4, 2001. The Panel's decision is set out in the following resolution: RESOLVED:As you have explained in your application, subsections 268(3) and (4) of the Criminal Code clarify that the term "wounds" in subsection 268(1)—which sets out the legal requirements for an aggravated assault—includes actions which harm female genitalia and are commonly referred to as "Female Genital Mutilation" (FGM). The Panel noted that your concern is that these provisions do not explicitly prohibit male circumcision. Your proposed test case would challenge subsections 268(3) and (4) as constituting sex discrimination against males, particularly male infants, contrary to section 15 of the Charter. They also noted that you wish to ask the court to "read in" protection from harm to male genitalia into this Criminal Code offence and to force Parliament to create new legislation which would protect both males and females from harm to their genitalia. After careful consideration of your application, the Equality Rights Panel decided not to fund your proposed challenge to subsections 268(3) and (4) of the Criminal Code. The Panel observed that the purpose of these subsections is to clarify that FGM constitutes an aggravated assault. The provisions were included in the Criminal Code because of widespread concern about the well-documented, long-term and severe physical and psychological harm of FGM, and about the role of FGM in reinforcing the social subordination of women and girls within their families and communities. The provisions you have targeted in your challenge are needed to ensure that women and girls receive equal protection from this particular type of aggravated assault. Panel members were not convinced by your application that the social, physical and psychological impact of infant male circumcision could be equated with the harm of FGM. Moreover, in ensuring that women and girls receive protection from FGM, subsections 268(3) and (4) do not appear to limit in any way the legislative protection against aggravated assault that the provision establishes for all persons. In the Panel's view, you simply have not demonstrated that section 268 of the Criminal Code provides inadequate protection to male infants from aggravated assaults involving male genitalia, that is, from assaults where the perpetrator wounds, disfigures, or endangers the life of the complainant. In conclusion, in the Panels' view, your application does not establish that a disadvantaged individual or group is receiving unequal benefit or protection from section 268 of the Criminal Code. For this reason your application does not offer the opportunity to advance a substantive equality argument based on section 15 of the Charter and is not eligible for funding from the Court Challenges Program. Please note that if you disagree with the Panel's decision, you may make a written request that the Panel reconsider its decision. You must provide detailed reasons, in writing, explaining why you believe a different decision ought to be reached. You may also provide new information or elaborate on the information previously provided to the Program. Once you have provided these reasons, the Panel will reconsider your proposal. However, this second decision is final. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact the undersigned. Yours truly,
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