ENHANCED DESIGNATION OF COUNSEL – NEW CRIMINAL COURT PROCEDURE – All criminal law practitioners must read and understand the Practice Direction of the Chief Justice.
Education and prevention.
“Brampton woman livid Ontario courts reducing ‘less serious’ impaired driving charges amid COVID-19 backlog.”
There are strict guidelines about when a careless driving charge can be offered to resolve an impaired/80+ charge and the terms of the sentence are significant.
A MADE IN CANADA MODEL
Decriminalization or legalization? “A Canadian approach, in short—recognizing that Portugal’s model is now 20 years old and that thinking has moved forward dramatically—might go far beyond Portugal by dismantling the sustaining structures of racialized prohibition.”
WHY ARE THE POLICE STILL CHARGING?
“As long as police can arrest a youth and lay the charge of simple possession, the health risks we’ve each seen in social work, the emergency room and legal aid will remain unchanged.”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN’T GET TRANSCRIPTS?”
A neglected area of zoom transition. “ACTs have been complaining about some of the issues noted above for a long time, but the move to “distance” hearings via Zoom or telephone is shining a very strong light on a systemic lack of care and indicates a culture of indifference regarding transcripts.”
WE ARE NEVER GOING BACK TO THE OLD NORMAL
“Other planned initiatives include the digitization of the provincial criminal justice system.”
