At the end of July 2022, one message rang loud and clear across the country, straight from the Supreme Court: when it comes to consent, only yes means yes. It was far from the first time that the SCC had said this or something like it. But this time, when the SCC released its decision […]
“The figures are stark and reflect what may fairly be termed a crisis.”
On March 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to appeal to Earl Mason, et al v Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, et al, SCC Case No 39855. This case is significant for being one of the first substantive appellate discussions of judicial review post-Vavilov (Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v […]
“The accused was entitled to a fair trial, not an endless one,” the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) asserted in the recent ruling, R v Samaniego, 2022 SCC 9 [Samaniego]. It is a cogent quote in defence of trial management power—a power that allows trial judges to control court processes to ensure […]
On February 8th 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) heard Eugene Ndhlovu v. Her Majesty the Queen, an appeal from the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) (R v Ndhlovu, 2020 ABCA 307) [Ndhlovu]. Ndhlovu asked the Court to decide whether the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (S.C. 2004, c. 10) [SOIRA] is constitutionally valid. […]
The relationship between an accused and their defence lawyer is a crucial one; the performance of the defence lawyer can determine whether the accused is given the best defence possible during their criminal proceedings. In R v White, 2022 SCC 7 [White SCC], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or "the Court") considered whether a […]
Introduction Criminal law is oftentimes understood as an outcome-oriented field of law, wherein procedure in the criminal justice system is ultimately aimed at achieving an outcome – guilty or not guilty. However, the procedure to obtain a conviction is just as important, if not even more significant, than the conviction itself. If procedure utilized in […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “The Court”) has modified the threshold of “impecuniosity” where a First Nations government seeks advance cost awards in litigation against the federal or provincial governments. In the unanimous decision of Anderson v Alberta, 2022 SCC 6 [Anderson], the Court determined that a First Nations government which has access […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will revisit mandatory minimum sentences in Jennifer Basque v Her Majesty the Queen (SCC case no. 39997, leave to appeal granted March 10, 2022). This time, the SCC will consider whether pre-sentence prohibitions can, like “time served”, be credited to reduce a sentence below the mandatory minimum. Background Jennifer […]
On March 3, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) granted leave to appeal in the case of Lanfer v. Eilers, a ruling from the British Columbia Court of Appeal, 2021 BCCA 241 [Eilers]. The SCC will rule on whether a foreign judgement granting the remedy of specific performance for the transfer […]