Criminal
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March 23, 2026
CRIMINAL CODE OFFENCES - Weapons offences - Possession of prohibited or restricted weapon or ammunition
Appeal by appellant from his conviction for possession of a loaded restricted firearm. Police responded to a complaint about an idling car. When the driver opened the door, a cloud of cannabis smoke escaped, and open packages of cannabis were visible at her feet.
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March 20, 2026
Split SCC revisits implied-licence & ancillary-police-powers doctrines in impaired driving case
Dividing 5-4 to allow the appeal in a Saskatchewan impaired driving case, the Supreme Court of Canada has provided guidance on the scope of common law police powers to warrantlessly investigate suspected crimes at residential private property without violating the Charter’s s. 8 prohibition of unreasonable search or seizure.
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March 20, 2026
B.C. boosts compensation for intimate-image abuse victims
British Columbia is increasing compensation limits for people who have had their intimate images shared without their consent. Victims can now seek as much as $75,000 in compensation through the Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) with amendments to the Intimate Images Protection Act now in effect.
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March 20, 2026
POWERS OF SEARCH AND SEIZURE - Warrantless searches - Reasonable expectation of privacy - Motor vehicle
Appeal by the Crown from a judgment of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal which set aside a conviction and entered an acquittal. The RCMP received a complaint of impaired driving against Singer. Officers identified a vehicle matching the description in the complaint parked in a residential driveway.
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March 20, 2026
Why Ontario is the epicentre of Canada’s remand issue
A recent CBC report noted that Ontario has announced plans for a new jail in Brockville and to add 1,436 new correctional beds by 2032. By any reasonable measure, Ontario should not be facing a jail overcrowding crisis. Crime rates are not surging out of control. Sentencing laws have not dramatically stiffened. Yet the province’s correctional facilities are often beyond safe capacity. The explanation lies not in who is being sentenced but in who is waiting.
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March 19, 2026
B.C. legislation sparks debate over protest access zones at schools, places of worship
As the B.C. government doubles down on bubble zones that limit protest around schools and places of worship, civil libertarians are saying they not only violate Charter rights but are also largely unnecessary.
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March 19, 2026
Law school: The dean, the dance and the Holy Grail
There are three reasons I decided to apply to Queen’s law school back in 1968.
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March 19, 2026
The view from inside jail: Parole hearing
I’ve written twice previously about aspects of parole — how complicated it is to figure out, and about halfway houses and the crazy rules of parole. A parole hearing, though, is a unique exercise in public humiliation, in some ways worse than a trial. Like a trial, it is a piece of theatre, with all the parts scripted in advance.
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March 19, 2026
Appeal Court overturns sex assault conviction, orders new jury trial
At the core of a fair criminal trial lies a simple principle: the accused, not the lawyer, must decide the most basic choices about how the defence will be carried out. In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal determined that this principle was broken when a man convicted of sexual assault was never properly informed of his critical rights, including whether to testify and whether to appear in court in person.
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March 19, 2026
Ontario appellate court ruling reinforces importance of accused’s right to cross-examination
In a case centred on cross-examination, the Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of appellant Rimzan Lye that the test was met to advance a Charter s. 8 claim that his rights were violated when police conducted surveillance of him without warrant.