Criminal
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February 14, 2025
Hosel rockets: Time to drop the glove(s)? | Michael Cochrane
It had been a particularly hot and humid day for a round of golf, downright sticky and nothing was going right. This was not what I had imagined as I drove to the course that morning. Nor was it the breakthrough round I sensed was imminent as I warmed up on the range. No, after several holes too many bunkers had been excavated, my ball retriever was working overtime searching murky ponds and a sleeve of expensive new balls had disappeared after a mere one stroke each. And then there was the slow play. Our group was actively grousing about the delays. (“The front nine shouldn’t take three hours. Where’s the marshal?”)
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February 13, 2025
CBA urges new funding as Federal Court’s massive budget shortfall threatens drastic service cuts
The Liberal government’s underfunding of the Federal Court could “drastically” reduce service to litigants, its chief justice warns, spurring the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) to call for urgent “off-cycle” federal funding to address the national trial court’s chronic multi-million-dollar budgetary shortfalls.
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February 13, 2025
Reflections on a setback | David Peters
Some soul searching was in order. I was clearly not excelling in my career, but I didn’t know why. I had the education and background to succeed, but things weren’t clicking. I knew the reason may be linked to viewing my job only as a means to an end — saving enough to retire — instead of as a vocation, an end in itself, as a meaningful part of life to be enjoyed not hurried through. In short, something to be passionate about. As I reflected upon the role I played in my dilemma, I knew I must change. I like to read and learn, so I sought answers in books. Maybe, after all, I would find something useful. I did.
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February 11, 2025
Federal Court of Appeal upholds trade tribunal's rejection of airsoft pistol import
The Federal Court of Appeal has upheld a decision by the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) that an airsoft pistol could not be imported under the Customs Tariff as it met the definition of a replica firearm under the Criminal Code.
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February 11, 2025
Canada sanctions two Sudanese leaders linked to human rights violations
Ottawa is sanctioning two Sudanese leaders of opposing warring groups who are linked to the ongoing violence against civilians in Sudan, where more than 12 million people have been displaced as a result of the country’s internal conflicts.
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February 11, 2025
Yukon’s Teslin Tlingit Council moves further towards establishing justice system
A First Nation in Yukon has taken another step towards having its own justice system after signing an agreement furthering the use of community-based “restorative measures.”
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February 11, 2025
Landmark U.S. copyright decision and its implications for AI and canadian copyright law
The legal profession has entered a new frontier in the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law. On Feb. 11, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued a landmark decision in Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v Ross Intelligence Inc, No 1:20-cv-613-SB, ruling in favour of Thomson Reuters in the first major fair use copyright case involving AI. The decision, which found that ROSS Intelligence unlawfully used Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw headnotes to train its legal AI research tool, raises profound questions about the future of AI training, data access, and copyright law.
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February 10, 2025
Another day another Charter violation
A June 9, 2022, Toronto Star investigation by Rachel Mendleson and Steve Buist with the help of Western University’s Law School examined more than 600 cases and found that police are not often told when judges find they violated the Charter. Further, the reporting found that officers rarely face consequences. Yet Charter violations continue to occupy Appeal Courts’ dockets.
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February 11, 2025
Deportable offenders | Michael Crowley
Following a lengthy hearing at a minimum security prison, I turned to my colleague and asked “Do you believe this is an individual who has to die in a Canadian prison?”
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February 10, 2025
C.J. Wagner says top court ‘exploring’ provision of mediation in cases where leave to appeal denied
Lawyers say they want to know specifics about the out-of-the-blue disclosure from Supreme Court of Canada Chief Justice Richard Wagner that he has asked his staff to “explore the possibility” of the top court providing “mediation” for litigants in cases where the apex court denies leave to appeal, and his suggestion that family law cases might lend themselves to a potential mediation initiative.