Access to Justice
-
June 13, 2025
Supreme Court Kinamore ruling clarifies rules on sexual history in trials
A fair match in sports requires teams to confront each other on a level playing field. The analogy holds for the courtroom as well. Sexual offence trials in Canada have become increasingly complex, partly due to confusion surrounding the rules governing evidence of a complainant’s sexual history. These rules, designed to prevent reliance on discriminatory myths and protect complainants’ rights, have resulted in uncertainty and disruption during trials. In the recent case of R. v. Kinamore, 2025 SCC 19, Canada’s highest court sought to level the playing field.
-
June 13, 2025
Christopher Johnson receives CBABC award for contributions to legal aid
The Canadian Bar Association, B.C. Branch (CBABC) has recognized criminal justice lawyer Christopher Johnson with the Georges A. Goyer, QC Memorial Award for Distinguished Service.
-
June 13, 2025
Alberta Court of Appeal tasked with measuring manageable vs. unmanageable risk
We have all heard the phrase, “Lock him up and throw away the key.” The closest our Criminal Code comes to authorizing such a punishment is the designation of an offender as a dangerous offender. Challenging such a designation can be difficult, as one Albertan found in R. v. Bouvier, 2025 ABCA 202.
-
June 12, 2025
N.B. legal aid needs to review eligibility criteria, formalize appeals process: auditor
New Brunswick’s legal aid provider dropped the ball in failing to review its conditions for financial eligibility and for lacking a formal appeals process for those turned down, states a report from the province’s auditor general.
-
June 12, 2025
Group urges Ontario to allow for restorative justice in sexual violence cases
A global organization promoting alternatives to the criminal legal system for survivors of sexual violence is urging the Ontario government to change a policy that makes sexual violence cases ineligible for community justice programs.
-
June 12, 2025
What happened to Madleen
Israel controls Gaza’s borders by sea, land and air, except for the border with Egypt, where it still has indirect influence through a buffer zone and security co-ordination. Whether this level of control counts as occupation or violates international law isn’t something I’ll get into here.
-
June 12, 2025
Reducing CRR burden: Keep ‘relevance’ as standard, reduce judge-presided conferences
The Civil Rules Review Phase 2 (CRR) report mandates judicial case conferences in two forms: directions conferences and scheduling conferences. In addition, it proposes a completely new standard for productions while removing discovery, which is a cornerstone for ensuring necessary and adequate production. The CRR proposes a new production standard: production of “reliance” and “adverse” documents rather than keeping the current standard of relevance. The net result will be more ambiguity as to which documents are proper productions, and given the absence of discovery, a greater need to obtain full production of all “reliance” and all “adverse” documents.
-
June 12, 2025
New Brunswick Appeal Court finds no reversible error in gun permit case
How can our courts protect public safety by revoking a person’s firearms licence without discriminating against individuals with mental health issues? This became a significant focus in the New Brunswick Court of Appeal decision R. v. Wojcik, 2025 NBCA 46.
-
June 11, 2025
Expanded Supreme Court registry services now available in Port Coquitlam, B.C.
The province of British Columbia has announced that residents of its Tri-Cities region (which includes Port Coquitlam, Coquitlam and Port Moody) now have improved access to court services with the opening of a fully equipped Supreme Court registry at the Port Coquitlam courthouse.
-
June 11, 2025
Judicial scarcity and Civil Rules Review: We can’t get there from here without more judges
The Civil Rules Review Phase 2 (CRR) states: “There is consensus that the problem of access to timely and affordable civil justice has only gotten worse since Hryniak, particularly following the Supreme Court’s decision in R. v. Jordan” (Hryniak v. Mauldin, [2014] 1 S.C.R. 87; R. v. Jordan, [2016] 1 S.C.R. 631).
Access to justice: The language of the litigant counts | Ruphine Djuissi
Access to justice in French is a critical issue for Francophones across Canada, particularly with respect to the availability of legal services in French, the quality of interpretation and translation, and equal language rights. It also includes access to French-speaking lawyers and court documents written in French. It is important to ensure that Francophones have access to legal services in their mother tongue or first official language.
Ontario committed to expanding Unified Family Courts but Toronto still lacking
Ontario’s government is vowing to continue working towards the expansion of Unified Family Courts across the province. But a local lawyer says that until a UFC is placed in the Toronto area, millions are being left to navigate a confusing, “two-tiered” family court system.