Criminal Defence Law Blog
When the Prime Minister declares an activity to be legal the prosecution of that activity never serves the public interest. The courts are questioning why prosecutors proceed with these cases. As more and more people with medical exemptions are growing their own marijuana, if the government doesn’t soon seize control of regulating this as a …
Continue reading “LEGAL LIMBO – Judges question simple marijuana possession cases”
A decade of a ‘lock them up and throw away the keys’ approach has left Canada’s criminal justice system broken and public safety at risk. Between 2005 and 2015, the federal inmate population grew by 10 per cent, however, crime rates have fallen every year. The growth was caused by steady increases of admissions of …
Continue reading “RESTORING OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM AND SOCIETY FROM A DECADE OF HARPER FEAR MONGERING –”
The Province will now provide complainants, but only those alleging a sexual assault, 4 hours of free legal advice. I wonder if that will encourage or discourage complainants from proceeding? I guess it depends on what type of lawyers the Province hires to give such advice. ‘It’s also a tacit acknowledgement that the system doesn’t …
Whether an in-custody accused appears in court in handcuffs, leg shackles or other restraints is up to the Judge to decide. “Every accused, whether in custody or not, has the right to appear in court free of any restraint. A blanket policy of presenting in-custody accused in leg shackles and handcuffs in court is illegal, …
Continue reading “IN THE TRENCHES: CUFFS AND SHACKLES IN COURT – CanLII – 2016 CanLII 7716 (NL PC)”
The “victim surcharge,” is a sum levied against persons for each offence they are sentenced for to raise money for victim services. It is mandatory. It is either $100, $200 or 30% of any fine imposed. Our lower court has once again found it unconstitutional because it “has an adverse impact on the mentally disabled …
Continue reading “IN THE TRENCHES: THE VICTIM SURCHARGE – CanLII – 2016 ONCJ 108 (CanLII)”
We grow better quality weed than Mexico anyway. “The economics of the cannabis industry show us that with healthy competition in the market, prices drop, quality rises, violence diminishes, and peaceful transactions increase.” Note an emphasis on HEALTHY COMPETITION. “The Colorado model has proven that legalization reduces crime rates, cuts prices, pushes unfavorable competition out …
While our ex-chief of police is taking so long trying to figure out how to do this “right”, in the hiatus between declaration and implementation of legality it is being sorted out in fact. Municipalities are quite capable of licensing, regulating and taxing the distribution of marijuana. All we need the federal government to do …
Now that we have a government that is actually interested in making informed evidence based decisions it’s time to reinstate a Law Reform Commission in Canada, like we used to have, to guide us as a society in having laws that reflect our values. If you don’t know or don’t remember what the LRCC was, …
Not only must one question the ability of a court to order someone to build something for a government agency one must also question the advisability of forcing them to build something as dangerous as a digital nuclear weapon. Here is Apple’s position: “The government is asking Apple to hack our own users and undermine …
Continue reading “FBI vs.APPLE : BYPASSING ENCRYPTION -Customer Letter – Apple”