Constitutional
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August 02, 2023
Unravelling Canada’s UN Indigenous action plan| Nick Leeson and Mariana Gallegos Dupuis
The National Action Plan, the latest initiative on United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) implementation by the federal government, pledges to begin the process of incorporating UNDRIP into Canadian law. However, the plan is presently seen less as a blueprint for change and more as a source of increasing concern due to its vague language, broad oversights and a perceived lack of commitment to genuine reform.
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July 31, 2023
Boolean searches, bulky suits, memories are made of these | Gary Goodwin
I recently attended the 40th anniversary of my call to the bar to see colleagues I have not seen for years. This should normally be a time for personal reflection and spiritual growth. But I did spend the smallest amount of time contemplating the reflection in the mirror to make sure I had not grown too much physically. My decades of working out did treat me well. Yes, colour me shallow, and this was no longer high school.
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July 28, 2023
Supreme Court clarifies scope of amicus curiae in upholding murder convictions
Canada’s Supreme Court has confirmed the proper role of amicus curiae lawyers used in criminal trials and emphasized judges’ discretion in determining their scope on a case-by-case basis — and in doing so, upheld the convictions of an Alberta man who killed both his mother and a disabled woman in her care.
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July 27, 2023
Court: Foreign buyer’s tax doesn’t violate refugee’s Charter rights
The B.C. Supreme Court has struck claims against British Columbia’s additional property transfer tax (ATT) brought by an Iranian refugee, who alleged that the imposition of the tax on his purchase of house in Vancouver violated his Charter rights.
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July 24, 2023
Ruling serves as reminder to governments to be thoughtful on health-care allocation decisions: prof
B.C.’s top court has given the go-ahead to a man’s claim that provincial health authorities were negligent when they declined to fund an expensive drug treatment, and a legal expert is calling the court’s decision somewhat surprising.
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July 24, 2023
Eyes turn to Supreme Court of Canada’s western vacancy after close of applications
Before applications for the Supreme Court of Canada’s western and northern vacancy closed July 21, Law360 Canada spoke with lawyers, judges and academics about which qualified jurists might be appointed to the seat on the top court vacated last month by former justice Russell Brown.
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July 21, 2023
Lawyers hope big award will deter provinces from interfering with labour talks
The upholding of a $19-million award for faculty and staff at the University of Manitoba will hopefully deter provincial governments from interfering with collective bargaining between public institutions and organized labour, say lawyers involved.
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July 19, 2023
Legal experts question trailblazing AI disclosure directives from Canadian courts
Legal experts in professional ethics and computer science are questioning the recent trailblazing moves of two Canadian trial courts that issued novel practice directions requiring lawyers and litigants to disclose to the bench any use of “artificial intelligence” (AI) in their legal research and court submissions.
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July 19, 2023
N.S. sex worker successfully suing client could open new defence tactic: lawyer
A new line of criminal defence for those accused of illegally paying for sex may have been created following an unusual case in which a Nova Scotia small claims court ruled in favour of a sex worker who was ripped off by a client, says a lawyer.
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July 17, 2023
Flexibility needed with new N.S. in-custody death committee: lawyer
Nova Scotia’s new committee to review the deaths of people in custody must be flexible enough to customize its makeup with those best able to speak to individual cases, says a lawyer acting for the family of an Indigenous woman who died of pneumonia while in jail. Last month, Nova Scotia’s government announced the formation of the Deaths-in-Custody Review Committee — the first of its kind in the province, put in place to investigate the deaths of people held in provincial institutions.