This week brought a close to the Supreme Court's Winter 2007 session, so there's going to be a brief lull in hearings; the next hearing is scheduled for April 23. Also, the Supreme Court rendered its decision in R v McKay, 2007 SCC 16, and granted five of the thirteen applications for leave to appeal. […]
As a civil practitioner, it's my job not only to advise clients about the legality (actionability) of past conduct, but also about the likely legality (actionability, risk of actions etc.) of proposed conduct which might create new issues. That means I need to know what reported cases the highest court in the land thinks are […]
Jodi Martin's post this week on Lévis (City) v Fraternité des policiers de Lévis Inc, 2007 SCC 14, highlights the current uncertainty within administrative law surrounding the application of the "pragmatic and functional" approach in determining the appropriate standard of review for administrative tribunal decisions. If the Supreme Court Justices, whose role it is to provide […]
In the recent case Council of Canadians with Disabilities v VIA Rail, 2007 SCC 15, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") reviewed the decision of the Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) ordering Via Rail to modify 13 economy coach cars and 17 service cars of the renaissance class to make them wheelchair accessible. In a 5-4 […]
The Supreme People's Court (SPC) is the highest court in the judicial system of the People's Republic of China (PRC, commonly known as China). Hong Kong and Macau, as special administrative regions, have their own separated judicial systems based on British common law traditions and Portuguese civil-law traditions respectively, and are not within the jurisdiction […]
On December 29, 2000, Danny Belleau, a municipal police officer in Quebec, had a violent argument with his spouse. A subsequent search of his house found unregistered guns, and breaching a court order, Belleau pled guilty to several hybrid criminal offences. The city dismissed him from his job as a result, and the case bounced […]
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") released their judgment in City of Lévis v Fraternité des policiers de Lévis Inc. and Danny Belleau, 2007 SCC 14. After reviewing the judgment two points come immediately to mind: first, the entire SCC found it offensive that a labour arbitrator would overturn a dismissal and reinstate a […]
The Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") has one case on its docket for next week, which will be heard on Tuesday. Since in R v McKay, a criminal case out of Manitoba, the Manitoba Court of Appeal ("MBCA") replaced the trial judge's acquittal with a conviction (see 2006 MBCA 83), Mr. McKay has a right to […]
This past Tuesday, a group of student editors from The Court, along with our faculty advisor, Simon Fodden, took a visit to the Supreme Court of Canada. We attended the hearing in Kerr v Daniel Leather, a securities case dealing with an issuer's disclosure obligations during the prospectus process. Simon Archer, who came along for […]
Last Friday, Tom Schreiter wrote on the recent Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") decision R v Bryan, 2007 SCC 12 [Bryan], with a decided focus on the evidentiary issues raised by the case. The case, however, warrants further examination due to the nexus of 2(b) of our Charter and the Canada Elections Act, SC 2000, c […]