James C Morton

Enhanced credit for pre conviction custody may properly include ineligibility for remission and parole while in remand custody

R. v. Summers, 2013 ONCA 147 holds enhanced credit for pre conviction custody may properly include consideration of ineligibility for remission and parole while in remand custody: As I see…

The legislature is presumed not to intend to abolish, limit, or otherwise interfere with the established common law or statutory rights, including property rights, in the absence of explicit statutory language that it intends to do so

Hamilton (City) v. The Equitable Trust Company, 2013 ONCA 143 holds: In addition to the foregoing considerations, it would be contrary to another well-entrenched principle of statutory interpretation to give…

Sabotage suspected at sinking RCMP headquarters in Iqaluit

Maybe, but remember there is a dispute over payment (see here) so I take the allegation of sabotage with a grain of salt! Story here A real Northern mystery has…

Finding someone a vexatious litigant does not deprive that person of access to justice

Burton v. Assaf, 2013 ONSC 1392 makes the point that finding someone a vexatious litigant does not deprive that person of access to justice: I would point out that an…

Frobisher Bay

Truth of a statement may be relevant as to whether voluntary or not

DeClercq v. R., S.C.R. 902 holds: I am in agreement with the conclusions stated in the Hammond case. While it is settled law that an inculpatory statement by an accused…

Happy Monday!

Move clocks forward one hour tonight

Nunavut While the rest of Nunavut observes DST, Southampton Island including Coral Harbour remain on Eastern Standard Time throughout the year. Ontario Most of Ontario uses DST. Pickle Lake, New…

A Superior Court has the inherent power to dismiss an action when the claim does not disclose a reasonable cause of action

Cavanaugh v. Grenville Christian College, 2013 ONCA 139 holds, somewhat surprisingly, that a Superior Court judge has the power to dismiss a claim for failure to disclose a cause of…

Fiduciary duty and aboriginal rights

Manitoba Metis v Canada 2013 SCC 14 is an important decision dealing with fiduciary duty in the context of aboriginal rights: Fiduciary duty is an equitable doctrine originating in trust.…

Voir Dire

A voir dire is a “trial within a trial”. It is used to determine conditions precedent to the admission or exclusion of evidence. The voir dire may dispose of the…

More Snow!!!

Private Nuisance

Antrim Truck Centre Ltd. v. Ontario (Transportation), 2013 SCC 13, released today, has a useful discussion of private nuisance: The elements of a claim in private nuisance have often been…

Aboriginal people make up 4 per cent of the Canadian population yet comprise 23 per cent of the prisoners in federal corrections institutions. And aboriginal offenders are more likely to serve more of their sentence behind bars, be held in segregation or with maximum security populations and be disproportionately prone to self-injury while in prison.

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Three little bears

Inherent jurisdiction to set aside order to prevent miscarriage of justice exercised rarely

Horner v. Benisasia, 2013 ONCA 136 deals with the common law power of a superior court to set aside orders to prevent a miscarriage of justice. While holding such power…

I hate having a cold!

If a misapprehension played an essential part in the trial judge’s reasoning process leading to the conviction, the conviction is not saved even if the evidence at trial was capable of supporting a conviction

R. v. Gough, 2013 ONCA 137 is a useful source for the principle that a factual misapprehension can be fatal if it goes to an essential part of the Court’s…

No Masters Motions in Toronto are available until August 2013

And people wonder why justice is slow!!!

Misleading the Court on Legal Issues

A lawyer must not misstate the law. Lawyers are under a positive duty to make full disclosure of all the binding authorities relevant to a case. This means that all…