Can an accused or his counsel waive procedural safeguards enacted for his benefit?

Support for this position is also found in the criminal law in cases such as Korponay v. Attorney General of Canada, 1982 CanLII 12 (SCC), [1982] 1 S.C.R. 41; 44 N.R. 103, where the court was dealing with the procedural requirements of s. 492 of the Criminal Code dealing with re-election. Lamer, J., speaking for the court, held that an accused or his counsel may waive the procedural requirements enacted for his benefit, but the validity of any waiver depends upon its being clear and unequivocal that the person is waiving the procedural safeguards and is doing so with full knowledge of the rights which the procedure was enacted to protect and of the effect the waiver will have on those rights.