Restitution in Criminal Law
Restitution in the criminal law comes in two forms. Restitution is intended to rehabilitate the offender by making him immediately responsible for the loss of the victim. It also gives…
James C Morton
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Can I get a peace bond?
If someone is harassing you it is possible, in some circumstances, to get what is known as a peace bond. That is a court order requiring that person to leave…
Access to Justice means reasons in Small Claims (POA?) need not be as detailed as SCJ
Maple Ridge Community Management Ltd. v. Peel Condominium Corporation No. 231, 2015 ONCA 520: The Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that access to justice is a significant and ongoing…
Prejudicial evidence in judge alone trial
In judge alone trials evidence or submissions on evidence that might well lead to a mistrial before a jury are far less likely to lead to a mistrial. So see…
Bias as opposed to disagreement
Sirdi Sai Sweets Inc. v. Indian Spice & Curry Ltd., 2015 ONCA 502: “On the bias argument, we reject as without merit the claim that the trial judge was biased.…
Bail Review Permissible Where Material Change
R. v. A.A.C., 2015 ONCA 483: Third, St-Cloud addresses the bail review authority under ss. 520 and 521 of the Criminal Code. With respect to those sections, St-Cloud instructs that…
Fresh Evidence on Appeal
R. v. Hartman, 2015 ONCA 498: Evidence is admissible on appeal if it is “in the interests of justice” to receive the evidence: Criminal Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46, s.…
Release plan relevant to tertiary ground for bail release
R v Dang, 2015 ONSC 4254
Aboriginal people and Canadian Criminal law
The Criminal Code and the Youth Criminal Justice Act have parts that consider the unique legal status of Aboriginal people in Canada. So Section 718.2 of the Criminal Code says:…
Splitting a case
R. v. Graziano, 2015 ONCA 49: … The proper approach would have been to consider whether permitting the Crown to call Hogan in reply offended the rule that prohibits the…
Risks of being a surety
Your best friend has been arrested. You know she has a drinking problem but you also know she’s a good person and so when she calls and says “come to…
Brief reasons in civil matters are not insufficient especially where urgency exists
PDM Entertainment Inc. v. Three Pines Creations Inc., 2015 ONCA 488: I begin with an important contextual point. After the two applications were filed, they were scheduled for hearing on…
Does the Superior Court of Justice have inherent jurisdiction to order a party to undergo an assessment by someone who is not a “health practitioner”, as defined in s. 105 of the Courts of Justice Act?
Yes. Ziebenhaus v. Bahlieda, 2015 ONCA 471: The Divisional Court concluded that s. 105 does not “occupy the field”. It noted that the health sciences and patient care have evolved…
Bail
Everyone has a constitution right to reasonable bail. That does not mean everyone who is arrested gets released, but it does mean that people should not be held in custody…