Introduction In many ways, it is difficult to argue with the result of the Supreme Court of Canada’s ("SCC") decision in R v Clayton, [2007] 2 SCR 725 [Clayton] released on July 6, 2007. In Clayton, the court restored the convictions of two accused who had been found in possession of loaded handguns, and were part […]
In a post written this past February, I noted the downward trend in the number of decisions rendered by the SCC in recent years and, in particular, of the especially small output in 2006. The end of June marks the midway point of 2007 and it may be interesting to track the SCC’s progress thus […]
On Thursday, July 5, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") granted the application for leave to appeal in the case of Apotex Inc. v Sanofi-Synthelabo Canada Inc., 2006 FCA 421, an appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal. This intellectual property law case deals with the requirements for patent protection.
Late June 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada launched a new portal for litigants wishing to represent themselves before Canada’s highest court. The “Representing Yourself” portal provides litigants with step-by-step guides to both bringing and responding to an application for leave to appeal. The portal likewise provides the self-representing litigant with a glossary of legal […]
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") granted leave to appeal to two cases, one of which was R v McNeil, [2006] OJ No 4746 (ONCA). This case involves an appeal from an Ontario Court of Appeal decision dealing with the proper balance between Crown disclosure obligations and the privacy interests of Crown and 3rd-party […]
Hill v Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police Services Board, [2005] OJ No 4045 (ONCA) is an important case that considers whether the tort of negligent investigation by the police should continue to exist. If it is decided that the tort of negligent investigation by the police ought to be abolished, then the SCC will overrule the current law […]
Recent events have made plain the politically charged nature of the debate in Canada over the provision of legal aid. In Ontario, the McGuinty government’s proposed Bill 107, which called for the elimination of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, was characterized by many as a backhanded attempt at dismantling civil legal aid, (by eliminating the […]
On June 7, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") rendered a rather puzzling decision in R v Teskey, [2007] 2 SCR 267, a case involving a trial judge's eleven month delay in delivering written reasons for finding an accused guilty. The SCC decision, which was largely concerned with the question of the appearance of […]
As a student in a first-year Constitutional Law class, we learn that there is typically a low threshold for what constitutes "expression" in s. 2(b) Charter jurisprudence. In a case for infringement of freedom of expression, we learn that typically getting recognition of a behaviour as "expression" is the easier part, and that convincing a […]
On Thursday, June 28, 2007 a significant judgment for the tobacco industry was released by the Supreme Court of Canada. Canada (Attorney General) v JTI-Macdonald Corporation, [2007] 2 SCR 610 [JTI-Macdonald], an appeal from the Court of Appeal for Quebec, considers whether the limits imposed by the Tobacco Act, SC 1997, c 13 and Tobacco Products Information […]