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August 31, 2026
Francis Clifford Smith was sentenced to death in Connecticut in 1950. He was 25 years old. He was granted a last meal eight times. Each time, his execution was stayed. Smith died in prison on June 25, 2026, at the age of 101, having spent more than 70 years in prison and, by some accounts, becoming the longest-serving prisoner in the United States.
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August 28, 2026
A recent Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal decision demonstrates the sometimes difficult balance between protecting Charter rights and ensuring that serious criminal charges are decided on their merits.
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August 28, 2026
Appeal by Crown from sentence imposed following respondent’s convictions for rape and robbery arising from a violent attack committed in 1981.
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August 27, 2026
Alberta’s Court of King’s Bench has made some tweaks to its rules on digital orders while offering a new guide for litigants in family law cases.
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August 27, 2026
The inability to afford a lawyer remains the biggest barrier to legal services in Manitoba, but obstacles also arise when various bodies operate in silos rather than coming together to serve the “whole person,” an official says following the release of a survey on access to justice in the province. Earlier this month, the Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) released its “What We Heard from Community Report” as part of its ongoing Access to Justice (A2J) Initiative.
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August 27, 2026
As AI-generated court filings by self-represented litigants proliferate, appellate counsel should read trial transcripts that are ostensibly “certified” more closely than ever and do so earlier in the appeal process as they might be AI-created fakes, advises a senior family law practitioner.
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August 26, 2026
The guilty plea entered Aug. 25 by a Toronto jail inmate who viciously attacked his elderly cellmate should prompt more than horror at the brutality of the assault. It should also prompt a difficult legal question: what, if anything, can an extraordinary act of violence reveal about the offender’s mental state?
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August 26, 2026
Canada should establish a transparent, evidence-based framework under which immigration applications connected to jurisdictions presenting demonstrable verification, fraud or security challenges receive enhanced scrutiny and, subject to narrow exceptions, a mandatory in-person visa interview.
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August 26, 2026
Appeal by Crown from acquittals of the Respondents on charges of trafficking in cocaine.
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August 26, 2026
A sentencing judge has delivered another sharp reminder that a court’s punishment cannot be considered in isolation from the conditions under which an accused has already been held. Justice Esther Rosenberg’s decision, released on Aug. 19 (R. v. Daniel), is significant not because the offences were minor. They were anything but.
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August 25, 2026
The Canadian Finance and Leasing Association (CFLA) has released its new report titled “Fraudulent Financing and Illegal Vehicle Exports,” which notes that while traditional auto thefts have decreased, organized crime has adapted by significantly increasing fraudulent financing and rapidly exporting vehicles.
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August 25, 2026
Justice Frans Slatter has retired from the Alberta Court of Appeal after 25 years on the bench.
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August 25, 2026
Appeal by appellant from convictions for theft over $5,000. The charge arose from allegations that, while employed as general manager of Fancy Windows Manufacturing Limited, the appellant retained cash payments made by customers for window orders instead of remitting them to the company.
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August 25, 2026
Some criminal cases seem to cry out for punishment. Others force criminal law to ask a more fundamental question: can a person be held criminally responsible for conduct he did not consciously control?
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August 24, 2026
A $28,000 lump sum salary boost recommended for Canada’s 1,200 judges last year would have cost Ottawa almost $321 million over six years had the government not rejected the advice from an independent judicial pay commission, the Carney government asserts in defending a novel lawsuit launched by the Canadian Superior Courts Judges Association (CSCJA) and the Association of Federal Court Associate Judges.
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August 24, 2026
A national civil liberties group has launched a Charter challenge against what it calls the “chronic” underfunding of criminal legal aid in Manitoba. And a leading voice for criminal lawyers in the province is echoing the sentiment that funding has long stagnated.
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August 24, 2026
As generative artificial intelligence becomes more capable, law schools at some Canadian and American universities have announced bans on laptops, tablets and mobile phones in classrooms. Supporters say restrictions protect academic integrity and restore focused learning. Critics counter that blanket bans are difficult to enforce, disadvantage some students and avoid the challenge, that of teaching future lawyers to use AI responsibly.
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August 24, 2026
Appeal by the appellant from convictions for two counts of sexual assault and one count of assault with choking.
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August 20, 2026
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey has appointed five judges to the Ontario Court of Justice, effective Aug. 27, 2026: Brent Ian Davidson, Vanessa Elizabeth Decker, Mark Andrew Jacula, Andrew David Midwood and Cindy Nadler.
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August 20, 2026
A sexual assault conviction cannot survive when the trial judge’s assessment of credibility is built, even in part, on evidence that has been misunderstood or given a legally impermissible use.
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August 19, 2026
The growing burdens that generative AI misuse in court is imposing on lawyers, litigants and courts are illustrated by a recent Nova Scotia Court of Appeal judgment that threw out a self-represented litigant’s appeal following his use of uncertified AI-generated trial transcripts containing multiple inaccuracies that opposing counsel identified through vigilant verification.
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August 19, 2026
Ontario’s attempt to make bail “more real and consequential” may instead create a constitutional confrontation over who has the power to decide the terms on which an accused person is released from custody.
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August 18, 2026
Quebec’s top court has ordered a self-represented family law appellant to pay $1,000 to his ex-wife plus her legal costs on the appeal, following his “deliberate” citation in court of ChatGPT-generated fake case law, including fictitious quotations.
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August 18, 2026
Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette has appointed Jean-François Lambert as a judge of the Court of Quebec. He will primarily sit in the Criminal and Penal Division in Longueuil.
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August 18, 2026
Rafal Szymanski has joined Alexander Holburn as a partner in its Toronto office, practising with the firm’s insurance, professional liability and police law groups.