The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) is set to hear an appeal out of the Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan (“SKCA”) on inmate discipline regimes in the case of John Howard Society of Saskatchewan v The Government of Saskatchewan (The Attorney General for Saskatchewan), 2022 SKCA 144 [JHS].
In R v Sharma, 2022 SCC 29 [“Sharma”], the Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC”/”the Court"] upheld the constitutionality of provisions that restricted the availability of conditional sentences. This decision marks a break from the SCC’s recent trend of overturning amendments to the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [“Code”] made during the Harper era. Conditional […]
On May 7, 2021, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or "the Court”) released the decision of R. v. C.P., 2021 SCC 19 [C.P.]. In the decision of C.P., the Court was tasked with ruling on the constitutionality of s. 37(10) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, S.C. 2002, c.1 [YCJA]. Facts of the Case […]
*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 […]
Update: On March 25, 2021, the SCC granted leave in A.S. v Her Majesty the Queen, et al. (39516), an appeal of an Ontario Superior Court decision finding ss 278.92, 278.94(2), and 278.94(3) unconstitutional. That case will be heard alongside R v J.J. Cross-examination can be a re-traumatizing experience for complainants in sexual offences trials—not least […]
The Court of Appeal’s (“CA”) decision in Bissonnette c. R., 2020 QCCA 1585 (“Bissonnette”), illuminated the importance of respecting Parliament’s authority to re-write legislation when a court declares a statute unconstitutional.
In October, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) released its decision in Re Shortt, 2020 ONCA 651 [Shortt] requiring the Government to fund an appropriate community living placement for Mr. Shortt to end his unnecessarily prolonged stay in forensic custody. While Justice MacPherson was clear that this remedy applied only to Mr. Shortt, and that […]
In July, the Federal Court released a long-awaited decision on the constitutionality of the Safe Third Country Agreement (“STCA”). Although the Federal Court (“FC”) found the STCA to be unconstitutional, the Canadian government has already filed an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”), meaning that a final verdict on whether the STCA violates […]
Online communication platforms give people the tools to engage in meaningful and productive ways. They have also given predators the opportunity to connect with children without supervision, and the ability to groom those children for the purpose of sexual abuse. Accordingly, Parliament has criminalized telecommunications with children for the purposes of facilitating sexualized discussions or […]
