Criminal
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December 15, 2025
Supreme Court to clarify how Gladue applies when offenders and victims are Indigenous
On Dec. 11 and 12, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada heard R. v. Cope, 2024 NSCA 59, a rare sentencing appeal with far-reaching implications for Indigenous communities. At stake is how courts should sentence Indigenous offenders when the victim is also Indigenous. The appeal has drawn 20 intervenors, a clear signal of its national importance.
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December 12, 2025
SCC clarifies warrantless arrest power, affirms right of defence to challenge legality of such arrests
Ruling 9-0, the Supreme Court of Canada has delineated statutory limits on the power of police to make warrantless arrests and the nature of their statutory partial immunity for “good faith” but mistaken warrantless arrests, thereby clarifying that Criminal Code s. 495 does not bar a criminal accused from the opportunity to allege that their warrantless arrest was illegal and thus infringed their s. 9 Charter-guaranteed right not to be arbitrarily detained or arrested.
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December 12, 2025
Regulators shut down 3,900 fraudulent investment and crypto websites in 6 months
Canadian securities and investment regulators deactivated more than 3,900 fake investment platforms and cryptocurrency scam websites in less than six months, according to a release issued by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) and Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) on Dec. 11.
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December 12, 2025
Canada, Ontario expand Toronto justice centres for at-risk youth
The federal government and Ontario have announced five new youth justice centre locations in Toronto that aim to improve access to legal and community supports for at-risk youth in the city.
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December 12, 2025
Washington jury decides: Hero sandwich or assault sub?
Murder by mustard? You are all no doubt wondering about the outcome of the recent trial in Washington, D.C., of Sean Charles Dunn. A jury found him not guilty of assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal agent who Dunn thought was going to arrest some illegal immigrants.
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December 12, 2025
An ‘AI crash’ could leave behind an environmental mess
The world’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is accelerating at a pace that few anticipated even a year ago. Data centres are rising across continents. Chip manufacturers are operating at maximum capacity. Investors are pouring billions into technologies, the long-term returns of which remain uncertain. Analysts now warn that this acceleration may be building towards an “AI crash.”
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December 12, 2025
COMPELLING APPEARANCE, DETENTION AND RELEASE - Arrest - Without a warrant
Appeal by Crown from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal which set aside Carignan’s conviction for sexual assault and ordered a new trial. Carignan was arrested without warrant inside his educational institution and taken to a police station.
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December 12, 2025
Alberta Court of Appeal weighs in on medical privacy
How far does the privacy of medical records restrict police in their investigation of impaired driving? That question was at the heart of a decision recently released by the Alberta Court of Appeal (R. v. Ouellette, 2025 ABCA 340).
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December 11, 2025
Report finds N.B. highways in poor condition, overseers not keeping up
An audit report out of New Brunswick finds almost half of its highways to be in poor condition, and that it recently had the highest per capita highway death rate of all Canadian provinces.
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December 10, 2025
Canada designates four new terrorist organizations under the Criminal Code
In order to “counter terrorism and violent extremism, in particular the radicalization of young people online,” the federal government has added four new organizations to the Criminal Code list of terrorist entities.