Access to Justice
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November 29, 2024
Nnane murder appeal decision, part two
The appellate decision in R. v. Nnane, 2024 ONCA 841, upholding a first-degree murder conviction contains a critical dissent.
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November 28, 2024
Nnane murder appeal decision, part one
After a seven-week trial in March 2019, a jury convicted 27-year-old Harris Nnane of first-degree murder for shooting Joseph Anzolona, 25, and Cynthia Mullapudi, 24, in April 2016.
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November 27, 2024
Privacy regulators release resolution on information sharing in cases of intimate partner violence
Privacy authorities across Canada have announced a joint resolution calling on governments and organizations to develop privacy-compliant governance frameworks for responsible information-sharing in cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) involving a risk of serious harm to life, health or safety.
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November 27, 2024
Quebec failed ‘honour of the Crown’ obligations in renewal of Indigenous policing agreements: SCC
The Supreme Court has ordered that Quebec pay a local Indigenous group hundreds of thousands for deficits the latter incurred running its community-based police force, finding the province failed to act in good faith and maintain the “honour of the Crown” during contract renewal talks.
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November 27, 2024
Bernardo parole hearing victim impact statements | John L. Hill
Family members of two teenage girls who were tortured and murdered by Paul Bernardo were able to present victim impact statements to a Parole Board of Canada panel, hoping to keep the notorious killer behind bars. Bernardo is serving an indeterminate life sentence for the kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.
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November 26, 2024
Paralegals, family law service providers and access to justice | Leanne Townsend
The recent decision by the Law Society of Ontario to expand the scope of services paralegals can provide under the Family Law Service Provider program is being hailed as a crucial step in addressing the increasing number of self-represented litigants in family law cases. The hope is that this expansion will provide much-needed support to individuals navigating the complex and often overwhelming family court system.
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November 26, 2024
Reconsideration of weight of mental illness on culpability results in successful sentence appeal
Shortly after noon on Nov. 25, 2021, 35-year-old Paul Nicholas Russell drove his white pickup truck to the RCMP detachment in Vanderhoof, B.C. From inside the truck, he fired a rifle at two marked RCMP vehicles parked in the parking lot. A few moments later, he fired twice more at the window of the detachment, shattering glass. He drove his truck toward the front of the building and fired again. Thirty minutes later, the truck was spotted, and Russell was arrested.
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November 25, 2024
Ottawa announces joint project with Interpol to fight international auto theft
The federal government says it has entered into a three-year, $3.5 million partnership with the international police organization Interpol to help fight transnational auto and auto parts theft involving organized criminal groups.
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November 25, 2024
In-person court and advocacy skills | Gary Joseph
This week I had the opportunity to attend in person a family law dinner honouring this year’s Ontario Bar Association (OBA) award winner for excellence in family law. It was a lovely event and a great opportunity to connect with the many family law colleagues I have grown to like and admire over the years. There was genuine pleasure on all sides to be connecting again in person and trading stories and laughs as we did all those years hanging around court.
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November 25, 2024
Life with no parole | Norman Douglas
I have been advocating for a change in our sentencing laws. I believe judges should be given the option, in exceptional cases, to sentence killers to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.