Michael Spratt analyses the aftermath of Ontario’s Legal Aid funding cuts
Source: When Legal Aid is a political prop, Access to justice suffers
Janayre Marie Smith Vaughan
THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT – DOES IT STILL APPLY IN SEXUAL ASSAULT CASES?
Trying to set a level playing field in situations as fraught as sexual assault cases is exceedingly complex. But governments have tried. Last year, when Bill C-51 took effect, the rules in sexual assault trials changed so that, if a defendant’s
Source: EDITORIAL: Sexual assault law a tricky balance | The Chronicle Herald
IMPORTANT FOR LAW STUDENTS AND PARALEGALS AND THE LAWYERS AND CLIENT WHO USE THEIR SERVICES – The Ontario government has issued an order-in-council to designate authority to the Law Society to determine who has the ability to appear in summary conviction court as a regulated agent.
RIGHT TO COUNSEL – When a person is arrested they have the right to consult (talk to) a lawyer “OF THEIR CHOICE” even if the police try to steer them towards using duty counsel.
Criminal Law – Charter of Rights And Freedoms – Charter remedies [s. 24]
Source: Charter protected interest was high as accused was mentally ill and experiencing panic attack
PLAYING POLITICS WITH IMMIGRANTS, REFUGEES, AND LEGAL AID.
The federal government will fill the funding gap made by Ontario’s cuts to legal aid, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday afternoon — a “one-time top-up” of $26.8 million for immigrant and refugee legal services, which were left in lurch after the provincial slash. “We shouldn’t be having to make this announcement,” a ‘frustrated’ […]
Source: Federal government to temporarily fill funding cuts to Legal Aid Ontario – iPolitics
CANNABIS RECORD SUSPENSIONS – You get a pardon and you get a pardon and everybody gets a pardon! Here is the link to the government webpage.
CANNABIS CONVICTION PARDONS – Well, actually they’re called “record suspensions” and as of today, August 1, 2019, they are free and expedited for those who have been convicted of simple possession of marijuana.
Canadians are now able to apply for no-cost, expedited pardons for simple cannabis possession convictions, the federal justice minister announced on Thursday. Speaking in Montreal, Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti said the measures of Bill C-93 will take effect immediately. The new law allows people who were only convicted of a crime of […]
Source: Canadians can now apply for free, no-wait pardons for cannabis possession charges – iPolitics
CONVICTIONS, PARDONS, AND THE U.S. BORDER
Pardons are supposed to let a former offender move on. So why do they sometimes create more problems than they solve at the U.S. border?
Source: Pardons aren’t supposed to be visible at the U.S. border. Here’s why they often are
DOUG FORD has cut spending for legal aid so 1) more people will not receive legal assistance and 2) Legal Aid will not pay lawyers for conducting bail hearings and now he is ensuring that law students and paralegals will not be allowed in court to assist anymore. His is an assault on the poorest Ontarians involved in the justice system in Ontario.
Ontario’s attorney general should have already hashed out a solution that will not leave the poorest Ontarians with even fewer legal resources come the fall
Source: Opinion | Ontario must not leave accused people high and dry