In R v CD, 2012 ONCA 696 the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously substituted a 30-month prison sentence for a two-year conditional sentence due to the "extraordinary" circumstances of the facts of the case. The appellant was a quadriplegic convicted of multiple counts of sexual assault against a minor living in the house above the […]
Last December, the Court of Appeal for Ontario decided in favour of the Minister of Transportation, finding that highway construction that rerouted traffic (i.e. customers) away from an existing highway was not a sufficient ground for compensation for business owners. Antrim Truck Centre operated a truck stop on Highway 17 outside Ottawa for almost thirty […]
On October 15, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada heard an appeal by Telus Communications to quash a General Warrant and Assistance Order to produce daily records of all text messages sent and received by two Telus subscribers in connection with a police investigation. The main issue in this case is whether a General Warrant […]
This morning, the SCC dismissed the appeal and cross-appeal in Canada v. GlaxoSmithKline Inc., 2012 SCC 52, a highly anticipated decision dealing with transfer pricing under s. 69(2) (now s.247(2)) of the Income Tax Act. The Minister of National Revenue reassessed Glaxo Canada for the taxation years 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1993 on the basis […]
On October 10th, 2012 the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") heard arguments in the case of Ivana Levkovic v Her Majesty the Queen. The next day, the SCC heard arguments in the case of Her Majesty the Queen v ADH. Both cases involved women who had left their foetuses after giving birth. In Levkovic, the […]
On 2 October 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he was nominating Justice Richard Wagner of the Quebec Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). Justice Wagner will replace Justice Marie Deschamps, who recently disclosed her intention to retire. Justice Deschamps’ departure plans triggered the formation of a parliamentary selection committee […]
This is the first part of a two-part post regarding R v DC and R v Mabior. Part II of this post explores the reaction to the case from the media, the interveners and the public. Part II can be found here. On October 5, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") released its highly anticipated decisions in R […]
In R v Carvery, 2012 NSCA 107 [Carvery], the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ("NSCA") considered s. 719 of the Criminal Code, RSC, 1985, c C-46 [Criminal Code], a provision which establishes credit given for time served pre-sentencing. Section 719 was amended in 2009 to limit the amount of credit judges could award offenders for time spent in […]
In Pastore v Aviva Canada Inc, 2012 ONCA 642, a unanimous Court of Appeal established a new, lower threshold for catastrophic impairment. The decision also permitted the inclusion of chronic pain in the assessment of mental disorder overturning an earlier Divisional Court decision.
In the years following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, both Canada and the United States have passed sweeping legislative changes in the name of national security. In Canada, such changes appeared in the form of the Anti Terrorism Act, which amended the Criminal Code to include a definition of “terrorist activity” and broadened the […]