You are not Alone: Ontario and British Columbia Invalidate Solitary Confinement

If one were to write the book on section 7 Charter litigation, I think it would be safe to say that we just started a new chapter.

In Your Own Backyard: The Implied Licence Doctrine and Section 8 of the Charter in R v Le

Do police officers have the power to enter a person’s backyard without express permission from the owner? On January 25, 2018, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) released R v Le, 2018 ONCA 56 [Le], a decision where the majority found the police had lawfully entered a backyard in order to investigate potential criminal activity. What […]

Bell Canada v Canada (Attorney General) : FCA Ruling Preserves the Right of Canadians to Watch American Super Bowl Ads

On Sunday, February 4th, the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles will square off in the annual sports spectacle known as the Super Bowl. The National Football League’s (“NFL”) championship game is one of the largest televised events in the world, watched by over 160 million around the world and over 8 million in […]

Protracted Immigration Detention and Compressed Proceedings: Habeas Corpus and Charter Claims in Brown v Canada (Public Safety)

In Brown v Canada (Public Safety), 2018 ONCA 14 [Brown], the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) found that Alvin Brown’s rights not to be arbitrarily imprisoned or subjected to cruel and unusual punishment were not breached—despite the fact that he had been detained for five years awaiting immigration removal, and the existence of international guidelines against […]

Delta Air Lines v Lukács: SCC Considers Boundaries of Public Interest Standing

How and when should public interest standing be established before an administrative agency? This is the question at the heart of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ("SCC") recent decision in Delta Air Lines Inc v Lukács, 2018 SCC 2 [Delta]. The matter arose after Dr. Gábor Lukács, an "air passenger rights advocate," filed a complaint […]

Risky Business: R v George & Reckoning with Age of Consent Laws

In 2011 in Saskatchewan, the complainant C.D. was 14 years old, although according to the evidentiary record he looked older (R v George, 2017 SCC 38 at para 10 [“SCC”]). He engaged in intimate activity with George, a 35-year-old female acquaintance. C.D. never complained to the authorities about the sexual encounter; rather, it came onto […]

Click and Consent: Douez v Facebook and Online User Agreements

Much like over 2 billion people globally, 19 million in Canada, and 1.8 million in British Columbia, Deborah Douez has a Facebook account. And much like two billion people before her, Ms. Douez clicked "I agree" to Facebook's terms and conditions when creating her Facebook account in 2007.

R v Reeves: The Impact of Joint-Residence on One’s Reasonable Expectation of Privacy

On May 5th 2017, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R v Reeves, 2017 ONCA 365 [Reeves], which deals with issues relating to the search and seizure of a computer from a jointly-owned home. The judgment also considers the admissibility of evidence (child pornography, in this case) obtained in violation of an […]

A response to R v Boutilier and the Constitutionality of Indeterminate Sentences

The following post responds to Devon Kapoor’s earlier case comment, which can be found here. Mr. Kapoor’s insightful post discusses a central issue in R v Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64 [Boutilier]: whether indeterminate sentences, as outlined in section 753(4.1) of the Criminal Code  RSC 1985, c C-46 [Code], are unconstitutional under section 12 of the […]

Anonymity at Risk? The Scope of Informer Privilege in R v Durham Regional Crime Stoppers Inc

In R v Durham Regional Crime Stoppers Inc, 2017 SCC 45 [Crime Stoppers] the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) recognized the essential function that confidential informers play by assisting police in criminal investigations and within the justice system as a whole, as well as the necessity of protecting the informers' identity from retaliation. Yet despite these acknowledgments, the […]