N.S. judge who commented ‘clearly a drunk can consent’ to retire

A longtime Nova Scotia judge whose controversial comment that “clearly a drunk can consent” made national headlines and drew widespread criticism is retiring.

Judge Gregory Lenehan will step down Monday after 35 years in law, including 14 years as a provincial court judge, said a news release Friday from the Nova Scotia Judiciary.

In 2017, Lenehan served as judge during the first trial of Bassam Al-Rawi, a Halifax cab driver who was accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated passenger.

In his decision acquitting Al-Rawi, Lenehan said there was no question the complainant in the case was drunk, but that did not mean “that an intoxicated person cannot give consent to sexual activity. Clearly, a drunk can consent.”

The remarks triggered protests and complaints about Lenehan’s conduct. The province’s then minister of community services, Joanne Bernard, said she was worried about the message Lenehan’s comments would send to sexual assault survivors.

A judicial review found Lenehan’s comments were “ill-considered” but did not amount to judicial misconduct. 

In Friday’s release announcing Lenehan’s retirement, Perry Borden, chief judge of the Nova Scotia provincial court, described his colleague as “a tenacious and zealous steward of the law.”

Al-Rawi was acquitted by a different judge in a retrial. Al-Rawi returned to court in August 2020 to face a second sexual assault charge. He was found guilty in that case.

Al-Rawi was recently returned to Canada from Italy to serve the remainder of a two-year sentence after fleeing his conviction.