Criminal
-
September 24, 2024
Alan Dershowitz’s own private North Star | David Peters
Alan Dershowitz’s one-time fellow advocate for liberal causes such as elimination of the death penalty, gun control, universal health care and reproductive rights, the late U.S. senator Ted Kennedy, once spoke of the importance of following the North Star while sailing so you always have a guide to ensure you stay on course. For Dershowitz, that North Star is the U.S. Constitution and its ideals of equal justice under the law. These principles drive his understanding of what it means to be a civil libertarian, which he summarizes as someone who “defends the rights of those with whom he disagrees as vehemently as those with whom he agrees.”
-
September 24, 2024
Definition of arson at heart of Ontario Superior Court decision
Setting fire to property with malicious intent is a serious criminal offence in Canada, commonly associated with the act of an arsonist. If one intentionally or recklessly causes a fire or an explosion, it can lead to an arson charge. The Criminal Code outlines five offences for arson in ss. 433 to 436 (1), including endangering life and setting a fire for fraud. This is a deeply serious offence, with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if prosecuted as an indictable offence, underscoring the gravity of the act and the need for strict adherence to the law.
-
September 23, 2024
Early election could kill proposed miscarriage of justice review body if bill not soon enacted
With the possibility of an early federal election looming this fall, advocates for the creation of an independent body to investigate suspected wrongful convictions are urging the Senate to move expeditiously to study and pass Bill C-40, proposed government legislation that would give birth to a long-awaited independent review body.
-
September 23, 2024
Benefits and challenges of technology’s impact on law | Max Chaudhary
The year 2025 marks a significant era in the intersection of technology and law, where advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and data management have, for some, revolutionized the legal landscape. The integration of these technologies presents both opportunities and challenges, fundamentally transforming how legal professionals approach case management, client interactions and the application of justice.
-
September 23, 2024
B.C. law society sets 2025 fees, amends policies on administrative penalties at recent meeting
Benchers of the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) set fee rates for 2025 at their Sept. 20 meeting while making changes to the regulator’s administrative penalty regime and external appointments policy.
-
September 23, 2024
Appeal court examines police use of informant info in gun case
Ontario’s Court of Appeal has maintained the need for trial judges to consider the “totality” of circumstances when assessing the credibility of information provided by confidential informants in police investigations. At the centre of the Court of Appeal for Ontario's Sept. 4 ruling in R. v. Buffong, 2024 ONCA 660, sits Temaal Buffong, who was arrested at a bus station after police received a tip from a confidential informant that Buffong was carrying a loaded handgun.
-
September 23, 2024
Exemptions to abortion bans: More reasons why they don’t work — police reports | Abby Hafer
In my articles of Sept. 12 and Sept.18, I discussed some severe problems with rape exemptions to abortion bans. These included the fact that they effectively punish women for having sex voluntarily as though that is in some way a crime and that they fail to provide access to abortion to those who qualify, since in states with bans abortion clinics all shut down, so those wishing to exercise the rape exemption cannot get an abortion in state anyway.
-
September 23, 2024
Alberta Court of Appeal weighs in on neighbours’ fist fight
“That’s what neighbours do; they help each other …” Aaron Jeremschuk started expressing gratitude to his neighbour, Robert Jakubec, who volunteered to help Jeremschuk hang a heavy boxing bag in his garage.
-
September 20, 2024
Canadian Judicial Council says guidelines coming for federal judges’ use of AI, social media
As part of their two-day fall meeting in Charlottetown this week, the chief and associate-chief justices of the nation’s superior courts discussed their progress in creating guidelines for federal judges’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) and social media, the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) says.
-
September 20, 2024
New rules in Nova Scotia represent a ‘minimum practice’ for regulation of policing, academic says
Nova Scotia has outlined new policing standards for police services in the province, brought in as part of its response to recommendations from a commission set up to look into a violent 2020 shooting spree that led to the death of nearly two dozen people.