Criminal
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March 17, 2025
Life as a prisoner | David Dorson
I wrote a few months ago about some of the differences between minimum security and higher security levels. Minimum is definitely an easier place to be, where, unlike medium or maximum, you can actually have a kind of life.
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March 17, 2025
APPEALS - Grounds - Misapprehension of or failure to consider evidence
Appeal by Crown from decision acquitting Kelly of charges of causing death while driving with excess blood-drug concentration (BDC) and dangerous driving causing death.
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March 14, 2025
SCC extends Charter-guaranteed presumption of innocence to inmate discipline proceedings
Overruling its own 35-year-old precedent while expanding the Charter’s protections for the presumption of innocence into new legal territory, the Supreme Court of Canada split 6-3 to strike down a Saskatchewan regulation that authorized inmate segregation or loss of earned remission to be imposed on those found to have committed a prison disciplinary offence, based only on proof on a “balance of probabilities” standard rather than on the heightened standard of proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.”
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March 14, 2025
Carney Sworn as PM, unveils leaner cabinet including Gary Anandasangaree as Justice Minister
Liberal leader Mark Carney has been sworn in as Prime Minister and unveiled a streamlined 24-member cabinet, which includes many of the ministers on the “front line” of the ongoing trade war with the United States.
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March 14, 2025
CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES - Life, liberty and security of person -- Presumption of innocence
Appeal by Appellant from judgment of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal which affirmed a decision concluding that s. 68 of The Correctional Services Regulations, 2013 (Regulations) did not violate s. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter).
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March 14, 2025
Understanding money laundering and ultimate beneficial ownership: A guide for legal professionals
Money laundering continues to be a critical concern for governments, financial institutions and legal practitioners worldwide. With the rise of globalized finance and the complexity of modern businesses, understanding the nuances of money laundering and the concept of ultimate beneficial ownership is essential for lawyers. This article aims to elucidate these concepts and their implications for legal practice.
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March 14, 2025
A system in crisis: Rebuilding the dwindling Crown Attorney’s Office | Shawn Patten
While I enjoyed being a general practitioner for the first few years of my legal career, I knew I wanted to be a prosecutor. Colleagues warned me that openings at the Provincial Crown Attorney’s Office were a rarity and that competition was fierce. They were right. For a year, I scoured the newspaper looking for job openings. While solicitor jobs in government were few and far between, Crown Attorney positions were non-existent.
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March 13, 2025
Court uses indecent act case to examine vehicles as public or private
Trial courts must take a contextual approach when deciding whether an indecent act carried out in a vehicle took place in a public or private place, says the lawyer of a Saskatchewan man caught masturbating while parked at a shopping mall.
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March 13, 2025
Hartman defence showcases complicated factors in determining appropriate sentence
Judges in criminal cases often say that sentencing is the most challenging part of their work. It requires them to balance a dichotomy and find harmony and effectiveness when dealing with seemingly opposite or contradictory ideas or concepts.
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March 13, 2025
APPEALS - Grounds - Bias - Misapprehension of or failure to consider evidence
Appeal by Vandewater from conviction for second-degree murder. Vandewater killed his cellmate Van Camp while both were incarcerated at a federal penitentiary.