Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act
The Faster Removal of Foreign Criminals Act received Royal Assent and passed into law yesterday. Under the new legislation the threshold for loss of appeal rights to the Immigration Appeal…
James C Morton
Half of Canada’s Aboriginal Children are living in poverty
Hardly surprising to those who work with aboriginal communities. The question is not what is wrong but how to fix it and whether there is the political will so to…
Bad Character Evidence
Bad character evidence is not permissible to prove an accused is a bad person and accordingly guilty. Great care must be used when evidence that could be of bad character…
Purchase money resulting trust
Nishi v. Rascal Trucking Ltd. 2013 SCC 33 upholds the doctrine of purchase money resulting trust. A purchase money resulting trust is a species of gratuitous transfer resulting trust that…
Robert Sutherland, Canada’s first Black lawyer
Robert Sutherland (1830–1878) was the first known graduate of colour at a Canadian university, and the first Black man to study law in British North America. A graduate of Queen’s…
Harper sidesteps questions over whether it was appropriate for his taxpayer-funded office to be distributing documents to media about paid speeches Justin Trudeau made before he was elected to Parliament
Again, a failure to distinguish between the role of government and the dictates of the Party: Story here:
When should a conviction should be set aside because it was not supported by the evidence before the trial judge
R. v. Kinney, 2013 YKCA 5 is a useful source for when conviction should be set aside because it was not supported by the evidence before the trial judge: The…
Paper touts ‘no jail’ option in exchange for reduced Charter protection
A startling idea — especially as the Constitution expressly applies to offences — almost certainly not lawful:A discussion paper issued by the federal Department of Justice is suggesting that for…
Single publication rule in defamation does not apply in Ontario
Shtaif v. Toronto Life Publishing Co. Ltd., 2013 ONCA 405 holds the single publication rule in defamation does not apply in Ontario: Many American States, either by judicial decision or…
Criteria for overturning discretionary decisions
Mission Creek Mortgage Ltd. v. Angleland Holdings Inc., 2013 BCCA 281 holds a discretionary decision should be overtruned only where the decision was clearly wrong or the court of first…
Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum reportedly in custody CBC News
No details yet. But a story that makes Toronto's follies looks like a trifle! Quebec is always a leader in Canada,,,
Throwing juice isn’t the way to go
Someone, now charged with assault, threw juice at Rob Ford. Twitter lit up with those cheering her act while others deplored it. Myself? I just see it as a rather…
Is Quebec’s proposal for assisted suicide law legal? Likely not.
I am writing legally. This note does not consider the “morality” of the issue. First, the Criminal Code (Federal law) provides: 241. Every one who(a)counsels a person to commit suicide,…