Criminal

Tuesday, July 23, 2019 @ 9:33 AM

To assist in the search of a missing person, Ontario’s recently proclaimed Missing Persons Act provides the police with “additional tools,” including the ability to make an “urgent demand for certain records without a court order.” While the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) notes that the legislation includes “important” safeguards for privacy protection, it is concerned about the amount of information available to police. ... [read more]

Tuesday, July 23, 2019 @ 8:40 AM

Sentencing hearing for Fawcett, who pleaded guilty to one count of child luring. ... [read more]

Monday, July 22, 2019 @ 12:19 PM

A Toronto lawyer is hoping victims’ stories of having intimate images shared online can be used as supplemental evidence in criminal and civil cases. These stories would come from newly emerging support groups for people who have suffered harm after such images were posted online without their consent. ... [read more]

Monday, July 22, 2019 @ 9:26 AM

Judges in criminal matters must ensure that foreign-speaking accused understand an interpreter is at their disposal if needed, says a lawyer following a recent appeal decision in which the court gave a stern reminder of this constitutional language right. This refresher came via the July 10 Court of Appeal of Manitoba decision in R. v. Gebru 2019 MBCA 73, which involved an Ethiopian-born man seeking a new trial after being convicted of counselling to commit both robbery and murder.  ... [read more]

Monday, July 22, 2019 @ 9:19 AM

Appeal by the accused from convictions for sexual offences. ... [read more]

Monday, July 22, 2019 @ 8:42 AM

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) answered a delicate question in its Christine Dejong Medecine Professional Corp. v. DBDC Spadina Ltd. [2019] S.C.J. No. 30 decision: If a company is used by someone who is committing fraud, can that company be said to have known about that fraud? ... [read more]

Friday, July 19, 2019 @ 5:07 PM

The federal government’s proposed $900 million settlement of a class action lawsuit regarding sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the Department of National Defence (DND) “sends a powerful signal to military authorities and the rank and file that the government is paying significant tax dollars to repair some of the insult and damages created and hopefully that will serve as a deterrent going forward,” according to Michel Drapeau, an Ottawa military lawyer and retired army colonel. ... [read more]

Friday, July 19, 2019 @ 2:16 PM

In an article reported in CNN Business, legalites in New York began to discuss the increasing presence of emojis in court cases. Specifically, emojis such as hearts from managers and C-suite executives, and threatening emojis depicting violent tools, like knives, could potentially constitute evidence of sexual harassment or violence. ... [read more]

Friday, July 19, 2019 @ 1:11 PM

The Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) has changed its rules surrounding use of trust accounts and cash transactions by lawyers as part of a nationwide push to combat money laundering in the legal profession. ... [read more]

Friday, July 19, 2019 @ 11:33 AM

There’s something inherently insulting in the fact that as Canadian citizens we are not permitted to have access to the data, research and information about saliva testers that has been collected by the government. After the approval of the Abbot SoToxa device, a saliva testing device designed to measure tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) concentrations in the blood, earlier this month, one would expect that government would release the basis of its approval. ... [read more]