Criminal
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December 03, 2025
Success rate for injured applicants at Licence Appeal Tribunal continues to plummet
As a new associate chair with significant political connections is poised to take over, the Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) is facing criticism over the plummeting success rate for people injured in auto accidents who are appealing decisions by insurance companies — a success rate that has dropped precipitously to only eight per cent.
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December 02, 2025
P.E.I. appoints Krista J. MacKay as new chief provincial court judge
Krista J. MacKay has been appointed chief judge of the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island.
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December 02, 2025
With court coverage shrinking, is the general deterrence effect of sentencing relevant?
Our criminal courts consistently refer to general deterrence when imposing sentences. Section 718(a) and (b) instruct our criminal courts that to protect society and maintain a just, peaceful and safe society, a sentence should denounce unlawful conduct and deter the offender and other persons from committing offences.
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December 02, 2025
Enhanced duties of transport truck drivers: Potential for great harm demands higher standard of care
It is an unfortunate reality that hundreds of motor vehicle collisions occur daily on Ontario’s roads. When these collisions involve transport trucks, the risk of serious or fatal injuries rises dramatically.
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December 02, 2025
Christmas at the courthouse
My first Christmas as a judge was in 1994 at the old courthouse on Clarence Street in Brampton, Ont.
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December 02, 2025
Canada introduces code of conduct to end gender-based economic abuse
Canada has announced new investments and introduced a code of conduct as part of its commitment to ending gender-based violence, including economic violence.
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December 01, 2025
SENTENCING - Fraudulent transactions relating to contracts and trade - Sentencing considerations
Appeal by appellant from sentencing decision. The appellant was convicted of two counts of fraud over $5,000, and one count of obtaining credit by false pretenses.
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December 01, 2025
Ontario law society approves 2026 budget, amends reporting bylaw
Benchers of the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) have set the financial table for the upcoming year, approving the 2026 budget that includes a modest annual fee increase for lawyers and paralegals. Lawyers will pay a fee of $2,080, an increase of approximately two per cent over the 2025 fee level of $2,039. Paralegals will pay $1,037 — with the net fee payable being $1,007 after applying a $30 refund from the paralegal compensation fund. In 2025, paralegals paid $1,023.
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November 28, 2025
Rees appeal victory consistent with classic miscarriage of justice cases
Through the excellent work of Innocence Canada, there is a checklist of symptoms indicating that even though a court of law has found an accused person guilty as charged, a miscarriage of justice may have resulted. That checklist includes the following: nondisclosure of crucial evidence, tunnel vision in the original investigation, an alternative suspect suppressed or ignored, a key witness shielded from impeachment at trial, and a decades-long delay in uncovering the truth.
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November 28, 2025
Saskatchewan introduces legislation allowing people to sue feds for gun-ban compensation
Saskatchewan is proposing legislation that will give residents a way to take the federal government to court if they are shut out from being compensated for surrendering guns now deemed illegal to possess.