Criminal
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March 19, 2026
B.C. legislation sparks debate over protest access zones at schools, places of worship
As the B.C. government doubles down on bubble zones that limit protest around schools and places of worship, civil libertarians are saying they not only violate Charter rights but are also largely unnecessary.
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March 19, 2026
Law school: The dean, the dance and the Holy Grail
There are three reasons I decided to apply to Queen’s law school back in 1968.
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March 19, 2026
The view from inside jail: Parole hearing
I’ve written twice previously about aspects of parole — how complicated it is to figure out, and about halfway houses and the crazy rules of parole. A parole hearing, though, is a unique exercise in public humiliation, in some ways worse than a trial. Like a trial, it is a piece of theatre, with all the parts scripted in advance.
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March 19, 2026
Appeal Court overturns sex assault conviction, orders new jury trial
At the core of a fair criminal trial lies a simple principle: the accused, not the lawyer, must decide the most basic choices about how the defence will be carried out. In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal determined that this principle was broken when a man convicted of sexual assault was never properly informed of his critical rights, including whether to testify and whether to appear in court in person.
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March 19, 2026
Ontario appellate court ruling reinforces importance of accused’s right to cross-examination
In a case centred on cross-examination, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of appellant Rimzan Lye that the test was met to advance a Charter s. 8 claim that his rights were violated when police conducted surveillance of him without warrant.
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March 18, 2026
The mask of professionalism: Stress of maintaining the ‘good lawyer’ image
In the first part of this two-part series (see link below), I wrote that in addition to actual legal work, most lawyers are also expected to act, speak and dress in certain ways. This added layer of effort can feel like a performance. It requires constantly monitoring yourself to maintain the image of a “good lawyer,” and it is exhausting. Here, I turn to what can be done to reduce the stress associated with all this extra labour.
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March 17, 2026
SCC heard more cases in 2025 but still fewer than pre-pandemic; number expected to rise in 2026
The Supreme Court of Canada heard more appeals last year than in 2024 and delivered its reserved judgments more quickly, but its hearings and output in 2025 were not yet up to pre-pandemic levels, according to the top court, which states it “expects to hear even more cases in 2026.”
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March 17, 2026
B.C.’s extortion task force update: Why files move slowly, even when public anxiety moves fast
A recent public update from British Columbia’s extortion task force arrived at a time when many communities in the Lower Mainland are not asking whether extortion is occurring, but whether the system is moving quickly enough to prevent violence.
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March 16, 2026
Court of Appeal upholds sentence for dangerous driving despite Charter arguments
Jason Georgopoulos was a successful 43-year-old mortgage broker from Toronto. No one would suspect that after a drive along Toronto’s Queen Street, he would end up as a federal inmate.
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March 16, 2026
Supreme Court of Canada’s surreal reasoning in Case and Loyer
When a person tells you, “I had a dream last night,” most people understand exactly what that means. The speaker is about to recount the swirl of mental imagery, sounds and emotions experienced during sleep. The story of missing a train, falling from the sky or walking into a classroom naked is not understood as a report of reality but as an account of imagination. Dreams are, almost by definition, the mind untethered from the ordinary constraints of perception and memory. The Spanish surrealist painter Salvador Dalí described dreams as “hand-painted dream photographs.”