Criminal
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February 25, 2025
Decision freighted by insufficient dicussion?
It is difficult to talk about childhood sexual abuse. It seems this difficulty includes members of Ontario’s Court of Appeal. It is common on appeal decisions from Ontario that a fulsome discussion of facts is set out in the court’s reasons for the decision. However, this was not the case in the decision upholding the indecent assault conviction of J.S. handed down on Feb. 19 (R. v. J.S., 2025 ONCA 125).
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 25, 2025
Court rejects disclosure application for records to be sent to U.S. in alleged fraud case
The British Columbia Supreme Court has dismissed an application for disclosure in an alleged mass-mail fraud case that led to the seizure of over 500 boxes of records.
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February 25, 2025
New partner for Burchell Wickwire Bryson LLP
Thomas Morehouse has joined the partnership at Burchell Wickwire Bryson.
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February 25, 2025
Yukon top court uses murder case to examine impact of harsh pre-trial custody on parole ineligibility
Sentencing judges deciding whether to increase parole ineligibility beyond the 10-year minimum for those found guilty of second-degree murder may consider harsh pre-trial conditions as a mitigating factor, says a lawyer involved in the appeal of a crack addict who killed another man in a drug deal gone bad.
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February 25, 2025
Why appeal court grants deference to the trial judge’s reasoning on conviction
When Daasebre Boakye went to court in May 2023, he was facing very serious charges: several counts of human trafficking, assault and assault causing bodily harm.
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February 24, 2025
PROCEDURE - Crown’s duties - Information or indictment - Setting aside - Questioning prospective jurors
Applications by Applicant for a stay of proceeding based on alleged abuse of process by the Crown, alternatively, an order assigning an "out-of-town" Crown to the case, or an order to summon the jury from his original trial to investigate the alleged obstruction of justice during his trial.
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February 24, 2025
Ontario election dominated by tariff concerns, but other issues at play: lawyers
With Ontarians on the cusp of electing a new government, the spectre of tariffs on Canadian exports is dominating the discourse of those who are aspiring to lead the province over the next few years — but as lawyers are pointing out, there are many other areas that voters should be focused on before they cast their ballot.
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February 21, 2025
Under the Ford government: Justice delayed and denied at Tribunals Ontario | Kathy Laird
In December 2024, Tribunals Ontario released its much-delayed Annual Report for 2023/24, and despite some self-congratulatory messaging, the data inside, and on the Tribunals Ontario website, demonstrates that there are serious deficits in the quality, accessibility and timeliness of justice at three of its busiest tribunals — the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) and the Licence Appeal Tribunal — Automobile Accident Benefits Service (LAT-AABS), which hears motor vehicle injury claims against insurance companies.
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February 21, 2025
Feds kick off information-sharing ‘partnership’ between RCMP, big banks aimed at money laundering
Ottawa has launched an initiative this week that the federal government says will “support the permissible sharing of money laundering and organized crime intelligence between law enforcement and Canada’s big banks.”