Criminal
-
December 12, 2025
Canada, Ontario expand Toronto justice centres for at-risk youth
The federal government and Ontario have announced five new youth justice centre locations in Toronto that aim to improve access to legal and community supports for at-risk youth in the city.
-
December 12, 2025
Washington jury decides: Hero sandwich or assault sub?
Murder by mustard? You are all no doubt wondering about the outcome of the recent trial in Washington, D.C., of Sean Charles Dunn. A jury found him not guilty of assault for throwing a Subway sandwich at a federal agent who Dunn thought was going to arrest some illegal immigrants.
-
December 12, 2025
An ‘AI crash’ could leave behind an environmental mess
The world’s artificial intelligence (AI) boom is accelerating at a pace that few anticipated even a year ago. Data centres are rising across continents. Chip manufacturers are operating at maximum capacity. Investors are pouring billions into technologies, the long-term returns of which remain uncertain. Analysts now warn that this acceleration may be building towards an “AI crash.”
-
December 12, 2025
COMPELLING APPEARANCE, DETENTION AND RELEASE - Arrest - Without a warrant
Appeal by Crown from a judgment of the Quebec Court of Appeal which set aside Carignan’s conviction for sexual assault and ordered a new trial. Carignan was arrested without warrant inside his educational institution and taken to a police station.
-
December 12, 2025
Alberta Court of Appeal weighs in on medical privacy
How far does the privacy of medical records restrict police in their investigation of impaired driving? That question was at the heart of a decision recently released by the Alberta Court of Appeal (R. v. Ouellette, 2025 ABCA 340).
-
December 11, 2025
Report finds N.B. highways in poor condition, overseers not keeping up
An audit report out of New Brunswick finds almost half of its highways to be in poor condition, and that it recently had the highest per capita highway death rate of all Canadian provinces.
-
December 10, 2025
Canada designates four new terrorist organizations under the Criminal Code
In order to “counter terrorism and violent extremism, in particular the radicalization of young people online,” the federal government has added four new organizations to the Criminal Code list of terrorist entities.
-
December 10, 2025
B.C. appoints 2 new judges to provincial court
The Government of British Columbia has appointed Michael Lefebure and Christina Proteau to the provincial court, with both appointments effective Jan. 5, 2026, according to the announcement from the province.
-
December 10, 2025
Prison lawyers: Contraband smugglers or misunderstood advocates?
The main gate phone rang; it was the shift supervisor: “We got Milano’s lawyer comin’ in at 13:30, make sure you check him good!”
-
December 09, 2025
Federal Protecting Victims Act proposes wide-ranging & some contentious criminal law changes
The federal government has introduced a wide-ranging “Protecting Victims Act,” which proposes, among many things: the expansion of various offences and punishments; new restrictions impacting the current interpretation of the Charter rights of accused persons to speedy trials and to make full answer and defence in sexual assault and other prosecutions; the creation of a number of novel Criminal Code offences; and the effective “restoration” for future sentencing (via a new judicial discretion “safety valve”) of “all” unconstitutional Criminal Code mandatory minimum penalties (MMPs) that were struck down as cruel and unusual punishment by various courts.