Law360 Canada

SCC rules admissibility of Crown-led ‘sexual inactivity’ evidence must be decided in a voir dire

Matthew Nathanson of Vancouver’s MN Law, co-counsel with Rachel Wood of Harper Grey LLP for the successful appellant, called Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner’s reasons for judgment a ‘tour de force. … The court, speaking with one voice, has accomplished a multitude of key objectives in one wide-ranging, yet doctrinally consistent, judgment.’

Friday, June 13, 2025 @ 6:28 PM

Holding 9-0 that evidence of a complainant’s “sexual inactivity” forms part of their “sexual history” — and is therefore presumptively inadmissible at trial — the Supreme Court of Canada has also clarified that the common law screening procedure for Crown‑led sexual history evidence “should mirror” the s. 276 Criminal Code regime that applies in a voir dire for defence-led sexual history evidence. ... [read more]

Alberta court orders Nova to pay Dow $1.62B more in ethylene dispute

Friday, June 13, 2025 @ 5:14 PM

The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has ordered Nova Chemicals to pay damages of $1.62 billion to Dow in addition to a previous payment of $1.43 billion for losses related to the companies’ jointly owned ethylene plant in Joffre, Alta. ... [read more]

Former Supreme Court Justice La Forest dies Justice Gerard Vincent La Forest, Supreme Court of Canada.

Friday, June 13, 2025 @ 4:58 PM

Former Supreme Court Justice Gérard Vincent La Forest has died. Justice La Forest, whose long legal career also encompassed government work, private sector lawyering, teaching and sitting on an East Coast appeal court, died June 12, according to a news release. He was 99. ... [read more]

Trial judge erred in interpreting resulting trust in property dispute, finds B.C. Court of Appeal

Friday, June 13, 2025 @ 4:30 PM

In a mother-son dispute over a property, the B.C. Court of Appeal has found that the lower court judge committed a palpable and overriding error in interpreting the respondent’s resulting trust claim. ... [read more]

Musings do not always give rise to enforceable promises, Ontario court says in dispute over farm

Friday, June 13, 2025 @ 4:02 PM

Ontario’s top court has overturned a decision that awarded damages to a man and his partner in a dispute over his parents’ farm, saying the judge in the case was wrong to raise the issue of proprietary estoppel. ... [read more]