Sentencing for a home invasion
R. v. Hill, 2013 ONCA 572: The sentencing objectives of protection of the public, general deterrence and denunciation are given priority in home invasion cases. Sentences in such cases have…
James C Morton
The Passing of a Giant of the Bar – Austin M.Cooper Q.C.
A great loss to the bar. He was a true and honourable counsel and a great Canadian.
Today’s religious wars
While discussing the mall attack in Nairobi and a church bombing in Pakistan this weekend a friend said “well, it’s a religious war”. That aside gave me pause. Growing up…
In the context of a purchase and sale of a business, a restrictive covenant is lawful unless it can be established on a balance of probabilities that its scope is unreasonable
Payette v. Guay inc., 2013 SCC 45 is an important commercial decision. Generally restrictive covenants (non‑competition and non‑solicitation agreements) are unenforceable unless shown reasonable. However, here the Supreme Court holds:…
Evidence of extrinsic misconduct
R. v. Samuels, 2013 ONCA 551: Evidence may be admissible for one purpose but inadmissible for another. Where the evidence relates to conduct that is extrinsic to the charges before…
No right to serve foreign prison sentence in Canada
Divito v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness), 2013 SCC 47: Date: 20130919 Docket: 34128 The ability of prisoners to serve their sentence in Canada is therefore a creation of…
Judges presumed to know and apply the law
R. v. Burns (l994) 89 C.C.C. (3d) l93 at l99 to 200, states the following:Failure to indicate expressly that all relevant considerations have been taken into account in arriving at…
Evidentiary sufficiency as opposed to absence of evidence is a question of fact
Jai Inder Singh Sandhu et al. v., 2013 MBCA 82 : While it is trite to say that a finding of fact made in the absence of any supportive evidence…
Standard of review
R v Yorston, 2013 ABCA 309 : Triers of fact have considerable leeway in assessing the evidence and in drawing inferences from that evidence: R v Biniaris, 2000 SCC 15…
Just cause a factual issue
Dziecielski v. Lighting Dimensions Inc., 2013 ONCA 565: The determination of just cause is essentially factual. Here the trial judge found that the employee’s conduct in these circumstances, amounted to…
Recusal not justified by the mere fact that a judge was involved in some interlocutory part of a case
Toliver v Koepke, 2013 ABCA 297: The appellant also suggests that two other judges of this Court are disqualified from hearing this appeal, because they also had minor involvement in…
Probation order as part of conditional discharge may not require charitable donation
R. v. Choi (J.W.), 2013 MBCA 75: In my opinion, the imposition of a condition in a probation order which forms part of a conditional discharge sentence requiring that an…
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom lasted for nearly two hundred years – from 1099 to 1291.