Russia’s Ruling on Pussy Riot: A Verdict Against Freedom of (Artistic) Expression? On Friday, August 17, 2012, Torontonians gathered outside of the Russian consulate in protest against that nation’s treatment of three members of a feminist punk-rock collective known as Pussy Riot. The band members were on trial in faraway Moscow on charges of hooliganism, […]
The Illegal Lawyer? The phrase “illegal lawyer” may soon be more than just a bad oxymoron. The California Supreme Court (“CSC”) will render a verdict on what could be a huge issue concerning the rights of illegal immigrants in the United States. In re Garcia on Admission S202512 deals with the case of Sergio Garcia, […]
Chinese Company Can Be Charged in Case Involving the Deaths of Two Temporary Workers Over the past few years, billions of dollars have been funneled into Alberta’s oil sands. The Chinese, in particular, have a voracious appetite for Canadian natural resources. While most Canadians welcome foreign investors, who inject money into the economy, build infrastructure, […]
They Don’t Want Him and Neither Do We: Omar Khadr’s Continuing Canadian Transfer Issues The story of Omar Khadr, the Canadian who was captured by U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2002 as a 15-year old boy, and subsequently accused of being a terrorist, is familiar to many Canadians by now. Equally resonant in the nation’s public […]
Supreme Court Hears Appeal from First Man Convicted under the Anti-Terrorism Law This week, the Supreme Court of Canada is hearing an appeal from Momin Khawaja, the first man to be convicted under the country's anti-terror law (Anti-terrorism Act, SC 2011, c 41). This case has drawn much attention from media in Canada as well […]
SCC Won’t Weigh in on Whether Domain Names are Property On May 24th, the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal with respect to the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Tucows.Com Co. v Lojas Renner S.A. 2011 ONCA 548. Tucows.com Co. (“Tucows”) and Lojas Renner S.A. (“Renner”) disputed Tucows’s right to keep the […]
The Court Won’t Hear Court versus Church Earlier this week, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") refused to hear the case of Hart v. Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of the Diocese of Kingston, in Canada 2011 ONCA 728 [Hart]. While the church and the issue may be different, this case can be placed alongside Bentley v. […]
SCC Refuses to Hear B.C. Case Employing Mareva Injunction What relief is available to a party when the opposing party threatens to dissipate all of his assets before a judgement is rendered? In these circumstances, a party can ask the courts to impose what has come to be known as a Mareva injunction to restrain […]
Causation is often the most difficult element to prove in a negligence action. The but for test, most famously articulated by Athey v Leonati, [1996] 3 SCR 458, helps to ensure fairness by requiring the plaintiff to prove on a balance of probabilities that “the injury would not have occurred but for the negligence of […]
Appeal Watch is a new feature that profiles cases that have been recently granted or denied leave to appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada. SCC Refuses to Revisit Murder Mens Rea Standard In the years following the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the courts in Canada used their new-found power […]