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College of Law

Research Area(s)

  • Canadian constitutional law
  • Charter of Rights
  • Criminal law (domestic)
  • Criminal procedure
  • Evidence
  • Legal theory
  • Police powers

Professional education

  • BA (Sask)
  • JD (Sask)
  • LLM (Toronto)
  • PhD (Alberta)

Profile

Dr. Colton Fehr joined the Faculty of Law at the University of Saskatchewan in a tenure-track position January 1, 2024. He was previously an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law at Thompson Rivers University and the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. Before embarking on an academic career, Dr. Fehr worked as a law clerk at the Provincial Court of Saskatchewan and as a Crown prosecutor for Saskatchewan Justice. His teaching and research interests fall broadly into the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, and constitutional law. Dr. Fehr has served as an editor on several Canadian law journals and is currently an editor for both the Criminal Law Quarterly and the Manitoba Law Journal. Dr. Fehr has written more than 50 academic articles and is the author of four books: Constitutionalizing Criminal Law; Judging Sex Work: Bedford and the Attenuation of Rights; Rethinking Homicide: The Constitutional Case for Reform and Cruel and Unusual: Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Courses taught

  • Criminal Law
  • Criminal Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Advanced Criminal Law
  • Charter in Criminal Law
  • Jurisprudence
  • Sentencing
  • Crime & Public Policy
  • Legal Research & Writing

Publications

(a) Books

  1. Cruel and Unusual: Section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, forthcoming).

  2. Rethinking Homicide: The Constitutional Case for Reform (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming).

  3. Judging Sex Work: Bedford and the Attenuation of Rights (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2024).

  4. Constitutionalizing Criminal Law (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2022).

(b) Articles

  1. “The Stigma of Human Trafficking and the Limits of Evidentiary Presumptions” (2026) 48 Manitoba Law Journal (forthcoming).

  2. “The Constitutional Effect of Repealing the Faint Hope Clause” (2026) 63:3 Alberta Law Review (forthcoming).

  3. “Safety Searches, Shifting Standards, and the Need to Balance Competing Interests” (2026) 58 University of British Columbia Law Review (forthcoming).

  4. “Raising the Bar for Denying Enhanced Credit for Pre-Trial Detention” (2025) 28:3 Canadian Criminal Law Review (forthcoming).

  5. “The Constitutional Status of Overbreadth: A Reply to Professor Stewart” (2025) 33:3 Constitutional Forum (forthcoming).

  6. “Sexual Offender Information Registries: The Case for a Punishment-Based Framework” (2025) 50 Queen’s Law Journal 32-64. 

  7. Studying Religious Symbols and Bias in Court Proceedings” (2025) 61:3 Osgoode Hall Law Journal 1-37 (with Nicholas Fraser).

  8. “Turning Breadcrumbs into Dialogue: An Institutional Justification for R v Bykovets” (2025) 103 Canadian Bar Review (forthcoming).

  9. “Cell Phone Searches Incident to Arrest: Revisiting R v Fearon Ten Years Later” (2025) 73 Criminal Law Quarterly (forthcoming).

  10. “Getting Rid of the Riot Act” (2025) 47 Manitoba Law Journal (forthcoming) (with Steven Penney). 

  11. “Searching Short-Term Rental Units: When Will Police Require a Warrant?” (2025) 73 Criminal Law Quarterly 107-28 (with Robert Diab).

  12. “Unpacking Bill S-12: Pragmatic Compromise or Undue Deference?” (2025) 28 Canadian Criminal Law Review 59.

  13. “The Role of Intervenors in Constitutional Litigation after Sharma and McGregor” (2025) 1:1 Thompson Rivers University Law Review 17-42.

  14. “Search Incident to Arrest and the Role of Law Enforcement Interests” (2024) 56 University of British Columbia Law Review (forthcoming). 

  15. “The Legality of Incorporating Provincial Law into a Criminal Offence” (2024) 109 Supreme Court Law Review (forthcoming).

  16. “R v JJ, Trial Delay, and the Recent Trend of Staying Sexual Assault Charges” (2024) 83 Criminal Reports (7th) 96-102.

  17. “Unpacking the Implications of Remand Time Constituting Punishment” (2024) 62:1 Alberta Law Review 67-86.

  18. “A Promising Piece of the Puzzle: Human Dignity and the Role of Section 1 of the Charter” (2024) 33:1 Constitutional Forum 67-74.

  19. “Over the Hills: Section 12 of the Charter at 40” (2024) 102:2 Canadian Bar Review 393-418.

  20. “The Moral Foundation of Criminal Defences and the Limits of Constitutional Law” (2023) 68:3 McGill Law Journal 291-327.

  21. “Are Limits on Granting Credit for Time Served on Remand Constitutional?” (2023) 27 Canadian Criminal Law Review 129-47.

  22. “Criminal Law in Canada” in Neil Boyd, ed, Understanding Crime in Canada: An Introduction to Criminology, 3rd ed (Toronto: Emond, 2023) 41-60.

  23. “Reflections on the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in v. Sharma” (2023) 60:4 Alberta Law Review 933-54.

  24. “Yombo c R: Affirming and Obscuring the De Minimis Defence” (2023) 81 Criminal Reports (7th) 59-63.

  25. “Remedying Unreasonable Delay” (2023) 60:3 Alberta Law Review 739-54.

  26. “Litigation Under Section 7 of the Charter after R v Brown” (2022) 80:1 Criminal Reports (7th) 80-85.

  27. “Criminal Records for Marijuana Possession: Is Eligibility for a Pardon Enough?” (2022) 45:4 Manitoba Law Journal 19-41.

  28. “Defending the Castle: Search Incident to Arrest after R v Stairs” (2022) 26:3 Canadian Criminal Law Review 227-41.

  29. “Vaccine Passports and the Charter: Do they Actually Infringe Rights?” (2022) 43:1 National Journal of Constitutional Law 95-113.

  30. “Should the Common Law Authorize Random Stops on Private Property?” (2022) 70:3 Criminal Law Quarterly 338-51.

  31. “Deterring Rights Litigation: R v Basque” (2022) 78:1 Criminal Reports (7th) 138-43.

  32. “Mandatory Covid-19 Vaccinations and the Charter” (2022) 31:1 Constitutional Forum 7-18.

  33. “Why De Minimis is a Defence: A Reply to Professor Coughlan” (2021) 67:1 McGill Law Journal 1-23.

  34. “Familial DNA Searching and the Charter” in Chris Hunt and Robert Diab, eds, Digital Privacy and the Charter (Toronto: Thomson Reuters, 2021) 261-81.

  35. “Criminal Law and Digital Technologies: Drawing Lessons from the Canadian and American Experiences” (2021) 53:3 University of British Columbia Law Review 651-702.

  36. “The Constitutionality of Excluding Duress as a Defence to Murder” (2021) 44:4 Manitoba Law Journal 109-33.

  37. “Tying Down the Tracks: Severity, Method, and the Text of Section 12 of the Charter” (2021) 25:2 Canadian Criminal Law Review 235-53.

  38. “Re-thinking the Process for Administering Oaths and Affirmations” (2020) 43:2 Dalhousie Law Journal 637-56.

  39. “Automatism and the Burden of Proof: An Alternative Approach” (2020) 25:2 Canadian Criminal Law Review 115-22.

  40. “Re-thinking the Instrumental Rationality Principles of Fundamental Justice” (2020) 58:1 Alberta Law Review 133-52.

  41. “Criminal Law and Digital Technologies: An Institutional Approach to Rule Creation in a Rapidly Advancing and Complex Setting” (2019) 65:1 McGill Law Journal 67-113.

  42. “Instrumental Rationality and General Deterrence” (2019) 57:1 Alberta Law Review 53-68.

  43. “Consent and the Constitution” (2019) 42:3 Manitoba Law Journal 217-48.

  44. “A Proposal for Police Acquisition of ISP Subscriber Information on Administrative Demand in Child Pornography Investigations” (2019) 24:2 Canadian Criminal Law Review 235-47.

  45. “Infusing Reconciliation into the Sentencing Process” (2019) 28:2 Constitutional Forum 25-30.

  46. “Digital Evidence and the Adversarial System: A Recipe for Disaster?” (2018) 16:2 Canadian Journal of Law and Technology 437-57.

  47. “The ‘Individualistic’ Approach to Arbitrariness, Overbreadth, and Gross Disproportionality” (2018) 51:1 University of British Columbia Law Review 55-74.

  48. “The Constitutionality of Using Production Orders to Obtain Stored Communications Content” (2018) 23:2 Canadian Criminal Law Review 171-82.

  49. “Self-Defence and the Constitution” (2017) 43:1 Queen’s Law Journal 85-122.

  50. “(Re-)Constitutionalizing Duress and Necessity” (2017) 42:2 Queen’s Law Journal 99-134.

  51. “Reconceptualizing De Minimis Non Curat Lex” (2017) 64:1 Criminal Law Quarterly 200-24.

  52. “Domestic Detention under Article 78(2) of the ICC Statute” (2017) 15:1 Journal of International Criminal Justice 31-50.

  53. “The (Near) Death of Duress” (2015) 62:2 Criminal Law Quarterly 123-49.

  54. “Divorced from (Technological) Reality: A Response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s Reasons in R v Fearon” (2015) 20:1 Canadian Criminal Law Review 93-110 (with Jared Biden).

  55. “Cell Phone Searches Incident to Lawful Arrest: A Case Comment on the Ontario Court of Appeal’s Decision in R v Fearon” (2014) 60:3 Criminal Law Quarterly 343-59.

(c) Book Reviews

  1. Book review of Search and Seizure by Robert Diab and Chris Hunt (2024) 47 Manitoba Law Journal (forthcoming).  
  1. Book Review of How to Conduct a Sentencing Hearing in Canada by Gregory Koturbash (2024) 87 Saskatchewan Law Review 135-39.  
  1. Book Review of Sexual Regulation and the Law: A Canadian Perspective by Richard Jochelson and James Gacek (2020) 57:4 Alberta Law Review 1045-52.  
  1. Book Review of Reconciling Sovereignties: Aboriginal Nations and Canada by Felix Hoehn (2013) 76:2 Saskatchewan Law Review 366-69.

(d) Editorials  

  1. “The Supreme Court Rejects the First Challenge to the PCEPA” (2025) 73 Criminal Law Quarterly (forthcoming) (with Lisa Kelly).

  2. “Enacting the Charter Made us More Liberal and Less Democratic” The Hub (20 April 2022), online: <https://thehub.ca/2022-04-20/opinion-enacting-the-charter-made-us-more-liberal-and-less-democratic/> (with Steven Penney).

(e) Reports  

  1. “Police Powers and Public Order Disturbances: A Background Paper Prepared for the Public Order Emergency Commission” (6 September 2022), online: <https://publicorderemergencycommission.ca/files/documents/Policy-Papers/Police-Powers-and-Public-Order-Disturbances-–-Penney-and-Fehr.pdf> (with Steven Penney).