Category archives: Uncategorized

JURY DUTY IS NO WALK IN THE PARK – “For most citizens figuratively plucked off the street to serve as jurors, being plonked down in a courtroom and experiencing a real blood-and-guts murder trial can be jarring. It’s one thing to sit back with a bag of popcorn and enjoy a Hollywood slasher movie, quite another to delve, in sometimes excruciating and bloody detail, into a horrific crime committed in your own community, at a location you might know and where you, your family and friends might even frequent.”

https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/its-not-like-tv-canadian-courtroom-jury-duty-can-exact-a-heavy-toll

IS THE DECISION TO DEPORT MR. SIDHU A REFLECTION OF OUR VALUES AS A SOCIETY? “Jaskirat Singh Sidhu was handed an eight-year sentence in 2019 after pleading guilty to dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm in the Saskatchewan crash that killed 16 people and injured 13 others. He was new to truck driving and had been on the job less than a month before the tragedy. In a federal court ruling released on Thursday, a judge denied Sidhu’s request to set aside a March 2022 Canada Border Services Agency decision calling for his deportation. Sidhu is a permanent resident, and under federal law, can be subject to deportation in the instance of a serious criminal offence. He was granted parole earlier this year.” (Josh Lynn CTV)

https://saskatoon.ctvnews.ca/federal-judge-upholds-deportation-order-against-trucker-in-humboldt-broncos-bus-crash-1.6687447

CRIMINAL LAW IS NOT THE PANACEA FOR ALL OF OUR SOCIAL ILLS – It seems imprudent to develop a new criminal offence of “coercive control” when we can’t define what that means. “The submission points out several concerns about the bill, with the first being that there is no uniform definition of coercive control. If you look at the academic literature, there’s one review study that has found 22 different definitions. It’s not like everybody is crystal clear on what we mean by coercive control,” says Mosher.

https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/criminal/parliament-looks-at-adding-coercive-control-to-the-criminal-code/381905

WE’RE STILL CLEANING UP THE MESSES, YEARS LATER, FROM HARPER’S UNCONSTITUTIONAL “TOUGH ON CRIME” AGENDA.

https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/practice-areas/criminal/mandatory-minimum-sentences-for-child-luring-unconstitutional-supreme-court-of-canada/381103?hsmemberId={{contact.hs_object_id}}&utm_source=GA&e=ZGpyZWV2ZUBiZWxsbmV0LmNh&utm_medium=20231107&utm_campaign=LTW-Newsletter-20231107&utm_content=60340243-7A36-40AE-831C-5923AFD1310D&tu=60340243-7A36-40AE-831C-5923AFD1310D

MORE COWBELL! – What do the courts do when they can’t handle the number of trials they already set? Well, set more trials, of course.

Ontario’s Court of Justice is issuing new practice directives in a bid to reduce delay and “unnecessary administrative appearances” in criminal proceedings. The three new rules, which take hold Nov. 1, will involve the setting of trial dates in accordance with Jordan principles, the timely handling of s. 11 Charter applications and the enforcement of set adjournments …

Continue reading “MORE COWBELL! – What do the courts do when they can’t handle the number of trials they already set? Well, set more trials, of course.”

IRONICALLY THE LEGALIZATION OF CANNABIS HAS LED TO MORE INTRUSIVE SEARCH POWERS BY POLICE – “In Ontario, the transportation of marijuana is governed by the Cannabis Control Act, which allows the police, in the absence of any suspected criminal activity, to search any vehicle and all its occupants (if they believe that “any cannabis is contained in the vehicle” and it is “readily available to any person in the vehicle.”) It can’t be understated just how broad the new police search powers are – we are talking about searching anywhere in the vehicle, including the trunk, and all passengers and their belongings, down to the deep pockets, makeup bags, and yes, even bras. So, here’s the big question: if the purpose of the Cannabis Control Act is to make sure drivers don’t have access to cannabis while driving, what’s the deal with searching the vehicle’s trunk? It doesn’t quite add up.” And it gets worse …

https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion/legalized-cannabis-still-has-a-problem-broader-search-and-seizure-police-powers/380698?hsmemberId={{contact.hs_object_id}}&utm_source=GA&e=ZGpyZWV2ZUBiZWxsbmV0LmNh&utm_medium=20231031&utm_campaign=LTW-Newsletter-20231031&utm_content=60340243-7A36-40AE-831C-5923AFD1310D&tu=60340243-7A36-40AE-831C-5923AFD1310D