Abstract

This paper considers the legal difficulties in prosecuting cases of on-ice violence in Canadian ice hockey, with particular attention to the consent defence. In this paper, a clear definition of consent is established to include: a voluntary agreement to participate in an activity that is free of coercion, deception, or fraud, and is arrived at in a clear mental state by all individuals involved. Using numerous legal case files and secondary literature, various issues of discerning consent in violent sport are discussed including: an unclear criminal code, the voluntary assumption of risk, the problem of line-drawing, honest but mistaken belief, the occurrence of non-specific contact, determining the intent of the accused, and determining liability. Various legal strategies to deal with the issues of discerning consent in violent sport are also discussed.

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