Criminal
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February 27, 2025
Field Law welcomes five partners, two counsel
Lee Carter, Carolyn Paterson, Pat Robinson and Matt Vernon, based in Calgary, and Paul Kolida, in Edmonton, have been promoted to the position of partners while Don Blackett and Karen Wiwchar named counsel at Field Law., according to an announcement on the firm’s website.
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February 26, 2025
Hosel rockets: When sport becomes tort | Michael Cochrane
The United Kingdom’s St. Augustine’s Links describes itself as Kent’s most welcoming golf course. I’m not sure Mr. Castle felt that way as he drove his taxi alongside the 13th hole in 1922, especially when an errant golf ball smashed through his windshield, blinding him in one eye. Was the ball one of the then popular $12 a dozen “C” Colonel’s advertised as “leaves the club with a click and a delightful feeling”? We know not. What we do know is that, while the course felt bad, they explained those types of errant shots happened all the time, especially — ahem — on the 13th hole. Castle sued.
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February 26, 2025
R. v. Jarvis: Did the SCC cast the criminal liability net too wide?
In a landmark decision that has sparked heated debate across legal and public spheres, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) redefined the boundaries of privacy in R. v. Jarvis, [2019] 1 S.C.R. 488. But did they go too far? The case, involving a high school teacher who secretly recorded his female students, has pushed the limits of what constitutes a “reasonable expectation of privacy” in the digital age.
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February 26, 2025
SCC halts use of its ‘X’ account ‘for now,’ citing ‘strategic priorities and resource allocation’
In a move that has sparked controversy in Canada and beyond, the Supreme Court of Canada tells Law360 Canada that “for now” it will no longer use its official account on X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, a high-profile billionaire associate of U.S. President Donald Trump.
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February 25, 2025
Decision freighted by insufficient dicussion?
It is difficult to talk about childhood sexual abuse. It seems this difficulty includes members of Ontario’s Court of Appeal. It is common on appeal decisions from Ontario that a fulsome discussion of facts is set out in the court’s reasons for the decision. However, this was not the case in the decision upholding the indecent assault conviction of J.S. handed down on Feb. 19 (R. v. J.S., 2025 ONCA 125).
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February 26, 2025
Women & 2SLGBTQI+ applicants came out ahead as ‘highly recommended’ for federal benches in 2023-2024
Asserting his new administration is “ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity,” U.S. President Donald Trump recently issued controversial executive orders banning diversity, equity and inclusion policies and hiring at the federal level in America. But in Canada, the most recent demographic statistics on federal judicial appointments and the professional competence and character assessments made by the Trudeau government’s non-partisan judicial advisory committees (JACs) indicate that diversity has gone hand in hand with “merit.”
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February 25, 2025
Court rejects disclosure application for records to be sent to U.S. in alleged fraud case
The British Columbia Supreme Court has dismissed an application for disclosure in an alleged mass-mail fraud case that led to the seizure of over 500 boxes of records.
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February 25, 2025
New partner for Burchell Wickwire Bryson LLP
Thomas Morehouse has joined the partnership at Burchell Wickwire Bryson.
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February 25, 2025
Yukon top court uses murder case to examine impact of harsh pre-trial custody on parole ineligibility
Sentencing judges deciding whether to increase parole ineligibility beyond the 10-year minimum for those found guilty of second-degree murder may consider harsh pre-trial conditions as a mitigating factor, says a lawyer involved in the appeal of a crack addict who killed another man in a drug deal gone bad.
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February 25, 2025
Why appeal court grants deference to the trial judge’s reasoning on conviction
When Daasebre Boakye went to court in May 2023, he was facing very serious charges: several counts of human trafficking, assault and assault causing bodily harm.