Friday, May 22, 2020 @ 12:50 PM
Halifax’s domestic violence court to restartOne of Nova Scotia’s two courts specializing in domestic violence will soon resume hearings for scheduled matters via telephone and start docketing new applications to the program later this summer. ... [read more]
Friday, May 22, 2020 @ 12:41 PM
Court tech lessons from those who’ve been conducting remote trials for years | Naomi SayersCircuit courts are the norm in northern or rural regions across Canada. These courts travel to different regions where there is no local courthouse. I was first introduced to circuit courts when I lived and worked in Northern Alberta, working with Indigenous youth. ... [read more]
Friday, May 22, 2020 @ 12:07 PM
Feds appoint eight judges to Ontario Superior CourtThe federal Department of Justice (DOJ) on May 22 announced eight judicial appointments to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. ... [read more]
Friday, May 22, 2020 @ 11:59 AM
New judge appointed to Nova Scotia Supreme CourtThe Nova Scotia Supreme Court announced that Diane Rowe, a former senior solicitor with the provincial government, has been appointed to the bench. ... [read more]
Friday, May 22, 2020 @ 9:53 AM
SCC will be asked to revisit sexual assault decision following B.C. Court of Appeal ruling
The Supreme Court of Canada will be asked to uphold one of its decisions heavily relied upon in a recent British Columbia Court of Appeal ruling that resulted in the ordering of a new trial in a sexual assault case. ... [read more]
Thursday, May 21, 2020 @ 3:12 PM
Post-COVID courts could see less oral advocacy, more paper-based and remote adjudication: SCC’s Wagner
Canada’s top judge says the demands of a post-pandemic world will require an openness to innovation and the creation of a “new normal” in the justice system — one which could feature fewer opportunities for oral advocacy by lawyers, particularly in physical courtrooms and appellate courts; more frequent remote hearings and paper-based adjudication; and even the reduction or elimination of the civil jury trial in those provinces where it still exists. ... [read more]
Thursday, May 21, 2020 @ 9:53 AM
Lawyers express frustration over cancellation of new courthouse for Halton Region
There have been days at the antiquated courthouse in Milton, Ont., when judges were forced to temporarily close courtrooms because too much debris was falling from the ceiling. So lawyers in surrounding Halton Region, just west of Toronto, are disappointed by the Ontario government’s decision to cancel a proposed, state-of-the-art courthouse in Oakville that was slated to serve one of Canada’s fastest growing areas. ... [read more]
Thursday, May 21, 2020 @ 9:06 AM
PARDON OR RECORD SUSPENSIONApplication by PH for a declaration of constitutional invalidity and related relief. In 2010 and 2012, Parliament amended the Criminal Records Act governing, among other things, the suspension of criminal records for offenders who subsequently achieved rehabilitation. ... [read more]
Thursday, May 21, 2020 @ 8:42 AM - Last Updated: Thursday, May 21, 2020 @ 9:39 AM
How COVID-19 helped Ontario’s court system | Michael LesagePrior to the emergence of COVID-19, the Ontario court system was barely functional. Intended to justly adjudicate matters in the most expeditious and least expensive manner, it had strayed badly off course. In the process, it had devolved into a nadir of bureaucratic rituals and pageantry that increasingly left it accessible only to big business and the most well off. ... [read more]
Tuesday, May 19, 2020 @ 11:41 AM - Last Updated: Wednesday, May 20, 2020 @ 11:16 AM
Legal groups file Charter challenge against government to protect federal inmates
Legal organizations and a federal prisoner have banded together to file a legal challenge against the Government of Canada to “compel it to take proactive steps to ensure prisoners’ safety in the context of COVID-19.” ... [read more]
