Earlier in February of 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to hear the appeal of British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) case R v Kinamore, 2023 BCCA 337 [Kinamore]. The appeal concerns the uneven scrutiny of competing evidence and the application of the s. 276 of Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will soon give direction to lower courts on how to assess the prejudicial and probative value of permitting an accused’s criminal record to be admitted as evidence. In R v Hussein, 2023 ONCA 253 [Hussein], the Court of Appeal for Ontario (“ONCA”) upheld the trial judge’s dismissal of the […]
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (“ONCA”) has re-emphasised that capacity for rational decision-making has no place in the test for fitness to stand trial. In its ruling in R v Bharwani, 2023 ONCA 203 [Bharwani], the ONCA held that fitness to stand trial under s. 2 of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 […]
In R v Wolfe, 2022 SKCA 132 [Wolfe], the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal (“SKCA”) affirmed that part VIII.1 of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [Code] grants judges the authority to order driving prohibitions for driving-related criminal negligence causing death or bodily harm. In so doing, the SKCA disagreed with the Ontario Court of […]
For an overview of the judicial history of this case, please see the first installment of this contribution. In this second contribution, I focus on the two underlying legal questions before the SCC.
Content Warning: The facts of this case involve the mention of serious violence and sexual assault. The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has granted leave [40956] to appeal the Court of Appeal for Ontario’s (“ONCA”) decision in R v J.W., 2023 ONCA 552 (“J.W”). The case revolves around the complex web of jurisprudence informing […]
On February 22, 2024, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”, or the “Court”) granted the Crown’s application for leave to appeal [40990] R v Wilson, 2023 SKCA 106 [Wilson]. The SCC’s decision will set a national standard regarding the limits of police powers to arrest and search a person who reports or remains at the […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to appeal Pepa v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2023 FCA 102 (“Pepa FCA”), a pithy (16 paragraph) dismissal of a certified question for appeal from the Federal Court of Canada (“FC”) under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, SC 2001, c 27 (“IRPA”). The appeal material raises […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has granted leave to appeal the long and complex case of R v Pan 2023 ONCA 362 [Pan]. At trial, four co-accused – Jennifer Pan (“Pan”), Daniel Chi-Kwong Wong (“Wong”), Lenford Crawford (“Crawford”), and David Mylvaganam (“Mylvaganam”) – were all convicted of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) is set to hear an appeal out of the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) on undue delay leading to dismissal in the case of Sweet Productions Inc. v Licensing IP International, 2022 FCA 111 [Sweet Productions] pursuant to Rule 167 of the Federal Court Rules, S.O.R./98-106 (“the Rules”).