On September 5, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper nominated Mr. Justice Thomas Cromwell from the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. But that was all before the government's controversial fiscal update on November 27, followed by the opposition parties' December 1 written agreement to form a coalition and finally, the […]
TheCourt.ca is very pleased to reproduce the decisions of the Women's Court of Canada. In 2004, this group of feminist / equality Charter activists, lawyers, and academics, decided to do something about what they saw as the sorry state of equality jurisprudence under s. 15. The solution, rewrite the key decisions of the Supreme Court […]
A quiet, but dramatic change is taking place in Canadian media law as courts across the country are beginning to shift the law of defamation in favour of freedom of speech. Last year, the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") in Cusson v Quan, 2007 ONCA 771 [Cusson], took the bold move of creating an entirely new […]
TheCourt.ca is but one of several Canadian legal blogs that publishes daily. Today, we'd like to draw your attention to another: Michel-Adrien Sheppard's personal blog Library Boy, of which we've been longtime readers. Mr. Sheppard is a reference librarian at the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC"). Since 2005, his blog has been providing news and […]
In the age of globalization, national courts are increasingly referring to foreign jurisprudence and international law in their decision making. However, the use of foreign jurisprudence by domestic judges is not without controversy. Proponents argue that foreign jurisprudence can help with the development and interpretation of domestic law. Opponents purport that reliance on foreign jurisprudence […]
Leave to appeal has been granted by the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") in R v Bobby Singh Virk et al. This appeal will answer the question of whether counsel for the accused may be present at an in camera hearing to determine the application of informer privilege. More specifically, the SCC will consider whether […]
The mainstream media is abuzz with the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision, released last week, denying leave to appeal to Air Canada, Jazz Air LP v Canada (Canadian Transportation Agency), 2008 FCA 168 [Air Canada]. At issue in Air Canada was a policy decision of the Canadian Transport Agency ("Agency"), No. 6-AT-A-2008, commonly referred to as […]
“It is tragic but true that people working with the vulnerable sometimes abuse their positions and commit wrongs against the very people they are engaged to help.” In Evans v Sproule, 2008 CanLII 58428 (ONSC), Chapnik J. begins by quoting from the decision of McLachlin J. (as she was then) in Bazley v Curry, [1999] […]
Here at TheCourt.ca, we are usually concerned either with recent decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC"), or with future cases of the SCC. However, we seldom take the time to look at how existing cases of the SCC are being interpreted by lower courts and the issues that arise in such situations. I […]
On Friday November 21, 2008 the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") released its 4-3 judgment awarding the appellants $30 million in Canadian National Railway Co v Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Co of Canada, [2008] 3 SCR 453. This case involved a 14-year dispute between Canadian National Railway Co. ("CNR") and its group of property […]