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October 08, 2026
British Columbia Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie has announced the appointment of Matthew Turnell, Manpreet Mand and David Jenkins as provincial court judges.
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October 08, 2026
When governments confront crime, a familiar political response is to build more jails, put more people behind bars and keep them there longer. It sounds reassuring, but it also confuses punishment with public safety.
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October 07, 2026
The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in R. v. Gauthier, 2026 ONCA 569 significantly clarifies the proper application of s. 24(2) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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October 06, 2026
Manitoba is looking to remove limitation periods for civil claims stemming from intimate partner violence involving “coercive control.” According to an Oct. 5 news release, the province has introduced legislative amendments to its Limitations Act that “would allow survivors to pursue civil action regardless of when the abuse occurred.”
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October 06, 2026
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision illustrates the difficulty of overturning a jury verdict where the trial judge carefully addressed potentially problematic evidence and the sentence, although unusually severe, remains within the broad discretion afforded to sentencing judges.
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October 05, 2026
For close to three years, I served as an external independent decision-maker for B.C. provincial correctional facilities. I decided if a prisoner was guilty of breaking a rule, and I handed down the penalty. My job was to maintain institutional safety and rehabilitate behaviour. The reality is, it didn’t work.
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October 05, 2026
Saskatchewan has appointed its first associate judges to the Court of King’s Bench following legislation that came into force Oct. 1.
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October 05, 2026
An Ontario paralegal is pledging to continue the fight after the province’s top court dealt him a blow in his attempts to argue that he has a larger scope of practice in immigration matters than the law society allows.
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October 01, 2026
New Saskatchewan legislation reflecting the digital age and protecting residents against “online misinformation” have come into force.
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October 01, 2026
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision warns about the risks of delivering a bare criminal verdict and leaving the reasons for judgment for many months. In R. v. Qita, 2026 ONCA 554, the court ordered a new trial after concluding that the extraordinary delay between the announcement of guilty verdicts and the delivery of written reasons rebutted the presumption that the reasons accurately reflected the trial judge’s actual reasoning.
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September 30, 2026
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has appointed David Paradiso as Correctional Investigator of Canada, effective Oct. 13, 2026.
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September 30, 2026
The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) has revealed the third gallery in its virtual transparency showcase at the Royal Ontario Museum. It is an interactive 3D exhibition on openness, access to information and transparency.
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September 30, 2026
For the first time, Canadian criminal law names femicide.
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September 30, 2026
A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision provides useful guidance on the admissibility of dying declarations, evidence of fabricated statements and the circumstances in which a person being investigated for murder becomes psychologically detained by police.
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September 30, 2026
Supreme Court of Canada Justice Suzanne Côté says she finds intervener advocacy on Zoom to be as effective as oral submissions made in the courtroom, but she is also alive to contrary arguments made by legal organizations, such as the Canadian Bar Association and The Advocates’ Society.
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September 29, 2026
Jake Okechukwu Effoduh has been named the inaugural fellow of the Raj Anand LCO Access to Justice Research Fellowship, a joint initiative of the Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) and Osgoode Hall Law School.
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September 29, 2026
Manitoba is “strengthening the support system” for young adults aging out of provincial care as part of its mission to reduce poverty, prevent homelessness and help vulnerable residents. According to a Sept. 28 news release, the initiative is intended to assist young adults transitioning out of the Child and Family Services (CFS) system.
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September 29, 2026
Canadian lawyers are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence tools to streamline legal work, but industry leaders say firms must carefully assess privacy and data-retention risks. While AI could lower the cost of legal services and help serve more clients, it cannot replace human judgment and client relationships, they say.
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September 29, 2026
Inside B.C. provincial jails, cells are the only places with privacy on regular ranges, such as general population or protective custody units. No cameras are inside or point inside. Because of that, a cell or “house” is where hidden activity takes place, everything from assaults, fights, gambling, tattooing, making hooch and using drugs to resolving disputes.
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September 28, 2026
Manitoba is strengthening workers’ compensation coverage for firefighters by widening the scope of job-related sickness and presuming their illnesses are work-related.
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September 28, 2026
Alberta has announced four judicial appointments, including one applications judge to the Court of King’s Bench and three justices to the Alberta Court of Justice.
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September 28, 2026
A criminal conviction is meant to bring finality. But finality should never become more important than getting the decision right. That is an important lesson from the decision of Justice Minister Sean Fraser to refer the murder convictions of Odelia and Neressa Quewezance to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal.
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September 25, 2026
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld the denial of certification of a proposed class action against a Canadian Jehovah’s Witness corporation over alleged childhood sexual abuse by congregation members.
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September 25, 2026
An Alberta Court of Appeal decision illustrates the discretion available to a sentencing judge under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) in determining how to consider a young offender’s pre-sentence custody (R. v. I.A., 2026 ABCA 298).
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September 25, 2026
In 2024, British Columbia took a seismic step away from treating family pets as ordinary property under the law when couples separate. Amendments to B.C.'s Family Law Act took effect on Jan.15, 2024 and introduced specific factors that courts must consider when determining which spouse should be granted ownership or possession of the family's companion animal. (See: B.C. Gov News.)