James C Morton
Adjournment of a civil trial
Turbo Logistics Canada Inc. v. HSBC Bank Canada, 2016 ONCA 222: The applicable principles are well understood. They were expressed by this court in Khimji v. Dhanani (2004), 69 O.R.…
Representing Yourself At Trial
Conducting a trial is difficult and takes years of training and practice to do well. It is almost always best to have a lawyer acting for you should you be…
Judicial interpretation of contract and surrounding factual matrix entitled to deference on appeal
Actuate Canada Corporation v. Symcor Services Inc., 2016 ONCA 217: At paras. 46 to 53 of his reasons, the motion judge set out the relevant principles to guide his interpretation…
Conflict of Interest
The press has recently been full of allegations of conflict of interest. Most of the allegations misunderstand the concept. Having decided opinions about matters is not a conflict of interest.…
Joint submissions should generally be followed
R. v. McLellan, 2016 ONCA 215: This court has made it clear that joint submissions must be carefully considered and should be followed absent an articulable basis upon...
No rule of disqualifying a surety merely on the basis of being a potential witness
There is no rule of disqualifying a surety merely on the basis of being a potential witness, indeed, such disqualification is an error in principle.The practice has been created by…
Promissory estoppel cannot be used to estop a public official from applying a clear statutory provision, or from fulfilling a statutory mandate.
Nunavut v Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd., 2016 NUCA 02: The hearing judge did not have the benefit of Robitaille, and did not apply the ratio of Mount Sinai, both cases establishing…
Police negligence disentitled Crown to adjournment
R v Josephee 2016 NUCJ 8: In our free and democratic society, police and prosecutors are entrusted with tremendous legal power and discretion. On a day-to- day basis, both institutions…
The Passing of Professor Reuben Hasson
I was deeply saddened by the passing of Professor Emeritus Reuben Hasson on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Anyone who knew Professor Hasson knew a man of great wit and character.I…
Damages
I recently read an American case where a sportscaster received a judgment for over $50,000,000 for the harm cause when a peeping tom took some nude pictures of her in…
Consecutive intermittent sentences improper
R. v. Clouthier, 2016 ONCA 197: Section 732(1) of the Criminal Code describes the circumstances in which a sentence of imprisonment may be served intermittently. The subsection provides: 732 (...
Toronto defence lawyer to be tried again for drug smuggling
http://m.thestar.com/#/article/news/crime/2016/03/07/toronto-defence-lawyer-to-be-tried-again-for-drug-smuggling.html Of the Law Societies of Upper Canada and Nunavut
Another Dr Smith case
The Court of Appeal for Ontario today set aside a guilty plea holding the accused was forced into the plea though innocent by the risk of wrongful conviction. Some might…
Failure to preserve evidence
R. v. Laing, 2016 ONCA 184: The leading case on the failure to preserve evidence is R. v. La, 2 S.C.R. 680, the principles of which are summarized in R.…