Access to Justice
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November 26, 2024
Reconsideration of weight of mental illness on culpability results in successful sentence appeal
Shortly after noon on Nov. 25, 2021, 35-year-old Paul Nicholas Russell drove his white pickup truck to the RCMP detachment in Vanderhoof, B.C. From inside the truck, he fired a rifle at two marked RCMP vehicles parked in the parking lot. A few moments later, he fired twice more at the window of the detachment, shattering glass. He drove his truck toward the front of the building and fired again. Thirty minutes later, the truck was spotted, and Russell was arrested.
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November 25, 2024
Ottawa announces joint project with Interpol to fight international auto theft
The federal government says it has entered into a three-year, $3.5 million partnership with the international police organization Interpol to help fight transnational auto and auto parts theft involving organized criminal groups.
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November 25, 2024
In-person court and advocacy skills | Gary Joseph
This week I had the opportunity to attend in person a family law dinner honouring this year’s Ontario Bar Association (OBA) award winner for excellence in family law. It was a lovely event and a great opportunity to connect with the many family law colleagues I have grown to like and admire over the years. There was genuine pleasure on all sides to be connecting again in person and trading stories and laughs as we did all those years hanging around court.
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November 25, 2024
Life with no parole | Norman Douglas
I have been advocating for a change in our sentencing laws. I believe judges should be given the option, in exceptional cases, to sentence killers to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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November 22, 2024
Manitoba re-establishes workplace safety advisory board
Manitoba’s government has resurrected the province’s advisory body on workplace safety — and has tapped an award-winning employment lawyer as its chair.
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November 21, 2024
Confirmation of sex assault conviction explained
It has been said that sometimes friendships end, and you have to give up on people — not because you don’t care, but because they don’t. The Manitoba Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Madder, 2024 MBCA 80, deals with the breakup of a friendship that had been ongoing for years and concluded that Christopher Madder, the appellant, did not care enough about the friendship to restrain himself from objectionable conduct.
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November 20, 2024
Court allows appeal of insurance housing benefits for victim of 'catastrophic' car accident
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has overturned a tribunal decision that denied the victim of a serious accident a special award for housing, even though the respondent insurance company had agreed to pay the amount.
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November 20, 2024
Manitoba marks Restorative Justice Week, 2024
Manitoba is marking the province’s accomplishments in advancing restorative justice. The province is celebrating Restorative Justice Week, (RJW) which this year runs Nov. 17 to 23, according to a government news release.
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November 20, 2024
Why Saskatchewan court denied additional compensation for assaulted driver
Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “A right delayed is a right denied.” It is likely Munir Ahmad Malik would agree.
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November 19, 2024
Public has low confidence in criminal courts; believes politics influences SCC appointments: poll
If public confidence is a litmus test for the health of the justice system, a new national poll suggests Canada’s courts have room to improve.