Criminal
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November 11, 2025
Ontario’s top court declines to set aside sentence in theft of Karsh’s iconic portrait of Churchill
The lead lawyer in a high-profile case involving the theft of one of the world’s best-known photographs of the storied former British prime minister Winston Churchill plans to ask the country’s highest court to review a recent decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal, which declined to set aside the sentence imposed on his client in May.
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November 11, 2025
Quebec announces three appointments to Superior Court
Louis-François Asselin, Benoit Lussier and Véronique Boucher have been appointed to the Superior Court of Quebec, the Department of Justice has announced.
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November 11, 2025
New trial ordered in P.E.I. adjoining property dispute
A well-known line from Robert Frost’s poem Mending Wall says, “Good fences make good neighbours.” Sometimes, building a fence or wall is an overly simple solution. When neighbours take each other to court and accusations of criminal behaviour are made, even the trial can become unpleasant. It was this sort of feud that led to the Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal case R. v. Moore, 2025 PECA 6.
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November 11, 2025
Putting people at the centre of criminal justice advocacy
Last week, while I was up north for a trial where a relatively young client was facing significant incarceration, something small but deeply significant happened during a sentencing hearing.
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November 10, 2025
Judicial vacancies hit 5%, threatening more trial delays and backlogs
Ottawa is lagging again in filling the country’s federal benches, hitting a five per cent vacancy rate on Nov. 1, 2025 — mostly in the critical trial courts of Ontario, B.C. and Quebec, which are constitutionally obliged to conduct trials within a reasonable time or face the prospect of staying criminal cases.
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November 10, 2025
Ontario appoints two new judges to Superior Court
Donna K. Kellway and Jennifer L. Swan have been appointed to the Superior Court of Justice of Ontario, the Department of Justice has announced.
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November 10, 2025
Robert Dysart appointed to New Brunswick Court of Appeal
Robert Dysart has been appointed a judge of the New Brunswick Court of Appeal in Fredericton.
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November 10, 2025
Why we have regulatory bodies over professions like the law
Regulatory bodies exist to protect the public, uphold the rule of law and maintain the integrity of professions such as law. Because lawyers exercise power over people’s rights, freedoms and livelihoods, their work must be governed by high standards of competence, ethics and accountability. In Canada, law societies ensure that legal services are provided by qualified ethical professionals.
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November 10, 2025
Clemency in corrections
Once a week, I receive an email from Yahoo with news articles about parole from across Canada, as well as occasional articles from the United States or Great Britain.
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November 10, 2025
APPEALS - Mixed question of law and fact - Question of law - Unreasonable verdict
Appeal by appellant from jury verdict. As a result of his disabilities, the appellant was unable to live independently and thus lived with his parents, his father being his primary caregiver. That relationship was fraught with conflict arising from the appellant’s condition and the repetitive behaviours associated with it.