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.”
October 06, 2026
Criminal court judges must remember that instructing a jury about evidence of fabrication is to be done only for the accused — not a complainant, says the lawyer of a man who maintains his ex-wife trumped up assault claims against him to gain an edge in their divorce.
October 06, 2026
B.C. Chief Judge Melissa Gillespie has announced the appointment of Rose Dattilo as a judicial justice.
October 06, 2026
Antisemitism is real and dangerous. Jewish Canadians should not have to conceal their identity, fear entering a synagogue or endure harassment because they are Jewish. Governments have an obligation to confront it.
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.
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.