On November 7, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) heard oral arguments for the case Her Majesty the Queen, et al v Hussein Jama Nur, et al [Nur] and Her Majesty the Queen, et al v Sidney Charles, et al [Charles] regarding the constitutionality of the section 95 Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 […]
In R v Hart, 2014 SCC 52 [Hart], the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") set out a new framework for the admissibility of confessions elicited during “Mr. Big” operations. (I wrote about the decision in a previous post.) In this post, I will look at the companion decision in R v Mack, 2014 SCC 58 […]
On July 31, 2014, the Federal Court of Appeal ("FCA") released its judgment in X(Re), 2014 FCA 249, largely upholding a Federal Court finding that limited the scope of powers that may be exercised by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service ("CSIS") while carrying out surveillance of Canadians abroad. The matter arose after the Federal Court became aware that CSIS […]
In what has been dubbed “the 7UP case,” a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") has ruled in Thibodeau v Air Canada, 2014 SCC 67, that Michel and Lynda Thibodeau are not entitled to a damage award that would have required Air Canada to take steps to ensure compliance with the Official Languages […]
A recent Ontario Superior Court ruling has the potential to have a serious impact on evidence law. The medical malpractice suit has sparked conversations among lawyers throughout Ontario and across Canada and has prompted civil litigators to ask what meets the test of allowable communication with their expert witnesses.
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) decision in Matheson v Lewis, 2014 ONCA 542 [Matheson], held that an unmodified all-terrain vehicle (“ATV”) owned by a farmer and used in farm operations does not fall within the Highway Traffic Act, RSO 1990, c H.8 (“HTA”) exception for “self-propelled implement of husbandry”, and must be insured while […]
On November 14, 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will hold a hearing for the appeal of Her Majesty the Queen v Mark Edward Grant [Grant]. The main issues the SCC will address are what the test should be for admitting evidence relating to a third party suspect that is unknown and what the […]