The Friday Brief: Managing Editor’s must-read items from this week

Matthew Grace

Here are my picks for the top stories we published this week.

Benchers vote to remove 'Upper Canada' from LSUC name and increase fees
The Law Society of Upper Canada will have a new name as of Nov. 2 as benchers approved a motion to remove “Upper Canada” from the organization’s title.

SCC rules Crown immunity shields officials from compelled discovery when Crown not a party
Federal officials can’t be compelled to submit to discovery in civil actions to which neither the Crown nor its servants are parties, the Supreme Court has ruled 7-0 in overturning a Quebec judgment that had attenuated federal Crown immunity.

CBA asks Ottawa for 'robust' protections for solicitor-client privilege at U.S. border
The Trudeau government should rewrite two intrusive customs bills that raise the risks at the Canada-U.S. border of abusive strip searches and interrogations of Canadian travellers by U.S. preclearance officials, violations of solicitor-client privilege and unconstitutional searches of cell phones and other electronic devices, the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has advised Parliament.

Details of SCC judgment on informer privilege mostly shielded pending pub bans’ expiry
The Supreme Court has issued an important 9-0 judgment dealing with informer privilege, but most information about the case cannot be published until after applicable Criminal Code publication bans are no longer in force.

Parents who are opioid addicts need help, not society's judgment
In her column, Melani Carefoot writes: “To counter the knee-jerk reaction of families and professionals alike when parents are identified as addicts, it is important to consider the position of children and how they can be kept safe while still maintaining a relationship with their parents.”

Matthew Grace is the Managing Editor of The Lawyer's Daily.