September 02, 2026
There is something profoundly unsettling about a society that regards prolonged solitary confinement as unconstitutional in prison yet appears prepared to tolerate the same isolation when the person behind the locked door is a psychiatric patient.
September 02, 2026
One provision of Canada’s anti-money-laundering penalty regime is quoted more often than it is read. Section 4(2) of the Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulation provides that a series of minor violations identified on a notice of violation “shall be considered to be a serious violation” where the penalties total $400,000 or more. That sentence has appeared, in substantially that form, in law firm bulletins, compliance explainers and vendor guides published since the regime was overhauled in March 2026.
September 02, 2026
“Alle Menschen werden Brüder” translates to “all people become brothers” and is one of the most recognizable lines from Friedrich Schiller’s poem Ode to Joy, immortalized in the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. In modern, inclusive language, its meaning might be expressed as “all people become kin.”
September 01, 2026
The Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court has certified a class action relating to the operation of Innu day schools in Labrador, allowing certain claims against the province and Canada for breaches of fiduciary duty and negligence to be tried. The plaintiffs alleged that government assimilation caused harms including physical and sexual abuse and loss of language and culture.
September 01, 2026
An Ontario Superior Court judge has put the brakes on the province’s new requirements on cash bail, granting an injunction to keep them from being enforced while a constitutional challenge of the rules plays out.
September 01, 2026
After years spent in litigation for my clients and, in retirement, assisting a prominent litigation lawyer in writing his autobiography, it is good to take a break. Last Friday I attended a showing of the newly released feature Coyote vs. Acme.
August 31, 2026
A task force combatting gender-based violence in Newfoundland and Labrador is developing an engagement plan involving the “diverse perspectives” of various stakeholders, including survivors, newcomers, youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ people and those with “lived experience.”
August 31, 2026
Francis Clifford Smith was sentenced to death in Connecticut in 1950. He was 25 years old. He was granted a last meal eight times. Each time, his execution was stayed. Smith died in prison on June 25, 2026, at the age of 101, having spent more than 70 years in prison and, by some accounts, becoming the longest-serving prisoner in the United States.
August 28, 2026
A recent Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal decision demonstrates the sometimes difficult balance between protecting Charter rights and ensuring that serious criminal charges are decided on their merits.
August 28, 2026
Appeal by Crown from sentence imposed following respondent’s convictions for rape and robbery arising from a violent attack committed in 1981.