October 05, 2026
Canada needs to find new ways to sustain and strengthen its democratic institutions, especially to drive home to Canadians how much their independent justice system benefits them in their daily lives, top jurists say. At the Oct. 5 ceremonial opening of the Supreme Court of Canada’s judicial year in Ottawa, Chief Justice of Canada Richard Wagner told the audience of lawyers and judges he appreciated that “across the country, I’ve seen many of you speak out publicly to reiterate the importance of the rule of law and of an independent judiciary.”
October 05, 2026
Although general damages in a defamation action are not subject to a fixed ceiling or are “at-large,” courts rarely award a plaintiff significant damages for their loss of reputation. The Canadian cases in which general damages in the amounts of hundreds of thousands have been awarded are confined to circumstances where the plaintiff is a professional, such as lawyer, whose career is dependant on having a good reputation or where the defendant has been noted in default and the court is asked to assess damages based only on the representations of the defamed plaintiff.
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.
October 05, 2026
Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser has announced the appointment of eight judges in Ontario.
October 02, 2026
The Supreme Court’s fall session is packed with interesting appeals in diverse areas of law including class actions, contracts, Crown immunity and Charter rights. The top court’s session begins Oct. 5 with an “opening of the court” ceremony in the West Memorial Building at 344 Wellington Street in Ottawa.
October 02, 2026
A Sarnia, Ont.-area man who was acquitted of first-degree murder of his common-law spouse by a jury following a six-week trial in 2023 will face a new trial for the downgraded charge of manslaughter, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in a landmark decision released on Sept. 25.
October 02, 2026
A single underscore sent an innocent man to prison. In a child sexual abuse material investigation, police were looking for “fus__ro_dah.” But they sought records for “fus_ro_dah.” That was Brandon Klayme’s username. One missing underscore sent the investigation to the wrong person. The discrepancy went unnoticed at trial. Klayme was wrongfully convicted and spent 18 months in custody before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal declared him factually innocent in R. v. Klayme, 2026 NSCA 59.
October 01, 2026
Hafeez A. Khan has been appointed a judge of the Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba, Family Division, in Winnipeg.
October 01, 2026
Mental health, job stress and keeping up with AI remain “front of mind” for the new president of Manitoba’s law society.
October 01, 2026
There is a growing tendency within parts of the legal profession to portray the criminal justice system as complainant-unfriendly, if not outright complainant-hostile.