Access to Justice
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October 01, 2024
If Trump wins | Tega Adjara
The outcomes of U.S. elections have historically shaped the policies of other nations, particularly Canada, with whom the United States shares not only the longest unguarded border but also deep economic, social and geopolitical ties. Any shift in U.S. governance, especially following a presidential election, reverberates across Canada. As we approach the 2024 U.S. election, it is evident that regardless of the victory, there will be inevitable policy changes that will affect Canada. However, a victory by Donald Trump could potentially trigger significant transformations within Canadian law and policy, given the stark ideological contrast and historical precedents set during his previous administration.
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September 30, 2024
Fall family law conference to bring in non-legal perspectives
An upcoming conference in Manitoba will draw on expertise from outside the legal sector in exploring ways to improve the public’s interactions with the family law system, says an organizer. The Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice’s (CIAJ) 48th annual conference, Families and the Law, will be held this year in downtown Winnipeg from Oct. 9 to 11.
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September 30, 2024
A message to lawyers about Wrongful Conviction Day
Oct. 2, 2024, marks the 11th annual Wrongful Conviction Day. This year’s theme is “The Pursuit of Truth.” Setting aside a special day raises awareness of the causes of and remedies for wrongful convictions and recognizes the tremendous personal, social and emotional costs that innocent people’s wrongful convictions impose on them and their families.
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September 27, 2024
Federal Court offers bar, litigants expedited ‘no-hearing’ judicial review for study permit refusals
In an effort to speed up the judicial review of hundreds of study permit refusals as the Federal Court also contends with thousands of other immigration cases, the national trial court is offering parties who opt into a new pilot project a “simplified” no-hearing, in-writing-only procedure where judges will simultaneously decide a JR leave application and the JR’s merits, and do so within five months rather than the 14 to 18 months usually required for a final decision under the general procedure.
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September 27, 2024
Lax O’Sullivan welcomes new lawyer
A recent news release from Lax O'Sullivan Lisus Gottlieb LLP announced the addition of Anne Posno.
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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).