Criminal
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March 31, 2025
Judicial Council dismisses Barreau’s complaint; no sanction for sentencing judge’s ethical lapse
The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has dismissed a complaint from the Barreau du Québec against a sentencing judge who failed to meet judicial ethical standards in expressing from the bench his personal “disgust and contempt” for an offender and his crime.
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March 31, 2025
Inmate abuse underscores need for jail change | John L. Hill
They just let an inmate die. Three guards and a supervisor were charged with criminal negligence, but the prosecution was dropped after a preliminary hearing. A warden and deputy warden were fired. That was the outcome after Ashley Smith died gasping for air while correctional officers observed her suicide attempt at Kitchener’s Grand Valley Institution but did not intervene.
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March 31, 2025
Defending the rights of the worst to ensure they’re there for the rest | Justin D. Rochester
Many times, when I’m teaching the summary offences course at Centennial College in Toronto, students ask me, “How can you defend people who break the law?” My response is always the same: everyone deserves a defence, and we defend the rights of the worst of us to ensure they’re there for the rest of us.
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March 28, 2025
Yukon Appeal Court decision sheds light on deleterious effects of harsh jail conditions
In determining the length of parole ineligibility for assigning one convicted of second-degree murder, should harsh pretrial jail conditions be used in the calculation? That was the question on the table to be decided by the Yukon Court of Appeal when a man convicted of second-degree murder made a return appearance.
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March 28, 2025
APPEALS - Grounds - Misapprehension of or failure to consider evidence
Appeal by appellant Stump from his conviction for sexual interference on grounds that trial judge misapprehended evidence and applied improper standards of scrutiny when assessing complainant’s and appellant’s evidence.
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March 28, 2025
Release of O’Connor report is a good start, but there’s a long way to go to | Anita Szigeti
Seventy thousand legal professionals governed by the Law Society of Ontario (LSO) were surprised to hear that the society had finally decided to release the report of Dennis O’Connor examining the raise their CEO got without convocation’s approval last summer.
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March 28, 2025
Manitoba corrections needs to better prepare inmates for freedom: auditor general
Manitoba’s auditor general has found the province’s corrections officials are falling short in preparing inmates for release.
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March 28, 2025
Canadian legal groups and regulators slam Trump administration’s ‘attacks’ on U.S. judiciary and bar
Canadian bar groups and the country’s 14 legal regulators are condemning the new U.S. administration’s “attacks” on American legal institutions. The concerns of Canada’s legal community were sparked recently by various calls from U.S. President Donald Trump and his allies to impeach judges who have not ruled in favour of the Republican administration’s actions, as well as by presidential executive orders and negative statements targeting individual lawyers and law firms, the immigration bar and so-called “Big Law” in the United States.
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March 27, 2025
Time for ‘made in Canada’ criminal justice | Catherine Latimer
It is unlikely that much-needed criminal justice system reforms will be included in any party platform for the 2025 federal election. There is nevertheless the possibility of linking positive reforms in the criminal justice system to current priorities.
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March 27, 2025
‘A bit of a mystery’ as to what Alberta hopes to accomplish with infrastructure law: legal expert
Alberta’s government has introduced legislation to amend several laws already on the books — but one aspect of the province’s move is being noted as much more controversial than the other.