Article content

A Supreme Court of Canada ruling Friday means the defence minister can appeal in the case of a Canadian soldier acquitted of sexually assaulting a female subordinate, the Canadian Press reports.

Here is the rest of the Canadian Press article:

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or National Defence Act is constitutional – sex assault case can be appealed Back to video

The court ruled unanimously that the country’s National Defence Act, which governs the military justice system, is constitutional.

The decision stems from two sexual assault cases involving soldiers.

In one, warrant officer Andre Gagnon was found not guilty in 2014 of sexually assaulting then-corporal Stephanie Raymond in December 2011 at an armoury near Quebec City.

The Crown argued at Gagnon’s court martial that Raymond was in a position of vulnerability and had been forced to submit to his sexual advances after a party.

Gagnon’s lawyers said the sex was consensual and that she had followed him to the armoury.

Gagnon did acknowledge that Raymond never responded sexually as he touched her, kissed her and undressed her.