Access to Justice
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September 12, 2024
Charge of evidence inadmissibility fails to persuade appeal court in sex assault decision
The modus operandi of sexual predators has become all too familiar. In the United States, there was Jeffrey Epstein, and in Canada, there was Selva Subbiah.
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September 11, 2024
Judicial review of federal support for B.C. coastal protections is premature, rules Federal Court
The Federal Court has rejected an application by British Columbia’s third-largest Indigenous community for judicial review of the federal government’s decision to endorse a plan to protect sensitive marine habitat along the province’s northwest coast.
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September 11, 2024
Saskatchewan investing in bylaw courts, safer neighbourhoods
In a bid to create safer communities throughout the province, Saskatchewan is planning to set up more bylaw courts and is investing millions in additional police and better officer training.
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September 11, 2024
Appeal court agrees harsh sentence inapplicable in some fentanyl cases
We now hear frequently of drug overdose cases. Increasingly, fentanyl results in deaths. The fallback position whenever substances (be it alcohol, cannabis or cocaine) are involved is to increase the criminal penalty.
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September 09, 2024
Manitoba court approves $530M settlement involving special allowances for children in care
The Manitoba Court of King’s Bench has approved three class action settlements totalling $530 million related to the province’s withholding or clawing back of the children’s special allowance (CSA) for kids in the care of provincially funded Indigenous and non-Indigenous child and family services (CFS) agencies.
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September 09, 2024
Flight risk considered in intimate partner violence decision
By all accounts, Johnny W. was considered a model citizen. The married father of two lived in London, Ont., and was employed in the family business, operating a fleet of taxi cabs. He had no criminal record. That is until he was charged in 2018 and convicted by a jury in 2023 of choking to overcome resistance, assault causing bodily harm, sexual assault and forcible confinement. The victim was an intimate partner who claimed the mistreatment occurred between 2013 and 2015, although not reported until 2018. He remained on bail without incident until he was sentenced to just under six years on Aug. 5, 2024.
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September 06, 2024
Public safety under consideration as Court of Appeal considers Review Board decision
Luis-Fernando Manrique tried to kill his wife. When his trial on an attempted murder charge concluded in 2010, he was found not criminally responsible. The court heard that until his spousal attack, Manrique had no criminal record, nor was there any indication of drug use. Psychiatric testimony revealed Manrique suffered from schizoaffective disorder. He was found not criminally responsible and was confined to a psychiatric facility.
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September 05, 2024
After navigating choppy waters, Alberta trumpets ‘collaborative’ new legal aid governance deal
A new five-year legal aid governance deal in Alberta appears to have calmed, at least for now, the choppy waters the provincial law society and Legal Aid Alberta (LAA) encountered in late June when the Alberta government abruptly changed its negotiating stance at the 11th hour, raising the prospect that legal aid certificates could no longer be issued once the predecessor governance agreement expired in July.
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September 05, 2024
Open letter from lawyers again demands government prevent the extradition of Hassan Diab
A group of 117 lawyers and legal academics is again appealing to the federal government to guarantee it will not extradite Ottawa sociology professor Hassan Diab to France for a crime they say he didn’t commit.
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September 05, 2024
Motion allowed in part in systemic negligence class action involving RCMP doctors’ conduct
The Federal Court has allowed in part a motion for certain particulars requested by the federal government in a class action against the RCMP for alleged systemic negligence relating to sexual assault and battery in medical examinations conducted by doctors.