Access to Justice
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September 27, 2024
Pyrrhic victory in 2020 assault decision
After Severin Manov could not come up with $50,000 on Jan. 25, 2020, he expected he would be killed.
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September 26, 2024
Alberta Court of Appeal grants First Nation’s bid to keep law firm over ‘significant questions of law’
The Alberta Court of Appeal has allowed permission to appeal a decision in which a law firm was removed from acting as counsel due to past associations with a “near client.”
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September 26, 2024
Nova Scotia appeal court takes trip to Cape Breton
Nova Scotia’s Court of Appeal has left its nest in Halifax and hit the road in a bid to make itself more accessible to the public. For its first-ever venture away from the Halifax Law Courts building, the province’s highest court will sit in the Sydney area, on Cape Breton Island, for the week of Sept. 23.
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September 26, 2024
Vote with animal welfare in mind | V. Victoria Shroff, KC
Pollsters confirm what most of us already know: “Animal welfare remains an important topic in Canada.” One need not be an animal law lawyer to agree with this statement. The welfare of animals matters, but it does not exist in a vacuum. Animal welfare is inextricably interrelated with humans and the earth.
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September 25, 2024
SCC advances law of evidence in assault case
It started in a school washroom in February 2016 and ended in the Supreme Court of Canada in September 2024 (R. v. Charles, [2024] S.C.J. No. 29).
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September 25, 2024
Federal Court expands RCMP class action to include affected family members
The Federal Court has expanded a class action against the RCMP to include family members of RCMP members and reservists allegedly subjected to systemic bullying, intimidation and harassment.
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September 25, 2024
Class action seeks compensation for alleged abuse of Indigenous students at Alberta school
A proposed Alberta class action alleges that Indigenous students at a school in Bonnyville, Alta., were subjected to frequent physical, psychological and sexual abuse from September 1966 to June 1974.
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September 25, 2024
Appeal court decision compares ‘believe’ and ‘suspect’
If seeing is believing, is seeing also suspecting? The answer to that question was at the heart of a recent case in the Ontario Superior Court, R. v. Jones, 2024 ONSC 4486. Although the distinction between the words “believe” and “suspect” may seem trivial, it was the basis for the Crown’s winning an appeal and having a new trial ordered.
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September 24, 2024
Ontario opening of the courts ceremony emphasizes technological change, access to justice
Leaders from across Ontario’s legal community met in Toronto for the annual opening of the courts ceremony on Sept. 23, emphasizing the efforts that have been made to modernize the court system while also saying more needs to be done to tackle things such as self-represented litigants and case backlogs.
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September 24, 2024
Definition of arson at heart of Ontario Superior Court decision
Setting fire to property with malicious intent is a serious criminal offence in Canada, commonly associated with the act of an arsonist. If one intentionally or recklessly causes a fire or an explosion, it can lead to an arson charge. The Criminal Code outlines five offences for arson in ss. 433 to 436 (1), including endangering life and setting a fire for fraud. This is a deeply serious offence, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if prosecuted as an indictable offence, underscoring the gravity of the act and the need for strict adherence to the law.