In Sanis Health Inc v British Columbia, 2024 SCC 40 [Sanis], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) upheld British Columbia’s power to represent other Canadian governments in a national class action under its Opioid Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, SBC 2018, c 35 [ORA]. Nearly all provincial, territorial, and federal governments supported the […]
Editor’s Note: The author’s analysis of Renvoi à la Cour d'appel du Québec relatif à la Loi concernant les enfants, les jeunes et les familles des Premières Nations, des Inuits et des Métis, 2022 QCCA 185 [QCCA Reference] is based on an unofficial English translation of the opinion of the Quebec Court of Appeal (“QCCA” […]
In R v Albashir 2021 SCC 48 [Albashir], the Supreme Court (“The Court” or “SCC”) analyzed whether the declaration of invalidity in Canada (Attorney General) v Bedford, 2013 SCC 72 [Bedford] applied retroactively or prospectively. In Bedford, the Court ruled s. 212(1)(j) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985 c C-46 [Criminal Code]—a provision that prohibited […]
*TRIGGER WARNING: This post has descriptions of violence that may be triggering to some readers* Since the abolition of the death penalty, the highest sentence a judge can prescribe to a criminal offender is a life sentence with a 25-year parole ineligibility period. Where there are multiple murder victims, under s. 745.51 of the Criminal […]
Before September 2019, jury selection in criminal trials could be challenged by both the accused and the Crown. Section 634(1) of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 previously permitted both the accused and the Crown to challenge a limited number of jurors peremptorily.
In early October, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “The Court”) heard submissions in R v Chouhan (Docket Number 39062, Heard on 7 October 2020) [Chouhan] on the constitutionality of the federal government’s abolition of peremptory challenges for jury empanelment under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985 c C-46 [Code].
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised a number of concerns about civil liberties and the extent to which they can be curbed to slow the spread of the virus. On one hand is the perspective that rights and freedoms ought to be restricted for a time so as to limit the number of people that are […]
At the brink of the neighbouring United States presidential election where the recurring public versus private debate healthcare continues to wage on, the Canadian universal healthcare system figures in as either an affordable haven or a wait time nightmare—depending on who you ask. However, contrary to its popular characterization, Canada does not have a completely […]
The need to safeguard privacy has long been a mainstay of the Canadian legal system. The right to secure autonomy and control over our private information has been preserved both by federal criminal legislation and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter], further bolstered by jurisprudence addressing the importance of privacy and autonomy to our […]
The newest member in the illustrious “class of section seven” Charter jurisprudence is R v Appulonappa, 2015 SCC 59 [Appulonappa], a recent Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) ruling on the constitutionality of a federal human smuggling offence. The decision is not only noteworthy for its political significance (stemming from a refugee controversy taking place several […]