The pirated DVDs? The fake Coach purse? The imitation I-Pod? Hide them. Burn them. Throw them away. Courts have brought the full wrath of law on those dealing in counterfeit goods in the form on substantial damage awards. Starting with Microsoft Corp v. 9038-3746 Quebec Inc., 2006 FC 1509, all the way to the most […]
Although the subject matter of sentencing is usually considered a dry one to discuss, the Supreme Court's recent decision in R. v. Middleton, 2009 SCC 21, is worth addressing briefly here at The Court. The issue in Middleton was that of whether an intermittent sentence and a conditional sentence can co-exist. Intermittent sentences are brief […]
The Right to Picket Meets the Remedy of Trespass As Osgoode Hall law students celebrate a relatively expedient end to their academic year, many of their colleagues at York University still traipse its hallways to recoup study time lost due to the recent labour disruption on campus. The CUPE 3903 strike, while a controversial response […]
Facebook – the quintessential communication portal. Many people spend numerous hours messaging, writing on walls, and taking quizzes on Facebook. But what is the impact of Facebook on our judicial system? Ideas of privacy, admissibility of evidence, and other issues rise up with the advent of a new era of utilizing Facebook as evidence, as […]
The Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of R. v. Suberu (previously heard in the Ontario Court of Appeal, (2007), 85 O.R. (3d) 127) in April of 2008 - over thirteen months ago. Although the public generally accepts and tolerates the simple truth that the Supreme Court is a very busy institution, at this […]
Introducing Justice Wilson As anticipation mounts surrounding President Obama's potential replacement of retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter with a female or minority candidate, we have cause to reflect on the increasing diversity of the Canadian judiciary, and specifically, the extraordinary life of one of our own former justices - Bertha Wilson - the […]
2003: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome outbreak (SARS) 2004: Avian Influenza in poultry (H5N1) 2007: Equine Flu 2009: Human Swine Flu (H1N1) Throughout the years, we have had a number of health concerns that have come out in the open ranging from SARS to Avian Influenza and now “Swine Flu”. Considering this increase in public health […]
Justice David Souter's retirement from the Supreme Court of the United States naturally prompted discussion as to whom President Obama would name as his successor. Names were immediately raised - in particular, Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Second Circuit Court, but also Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Kim Wardlaw of the Ninth Circuit Court, Stanford […]
R. v. Kapp in the Context of Equality Jurisprudence Last June's ruling in R. v. Kapp , 2008 SCC 41, provided much needed clarification of the convoluted equality jurisprudence ensuing from the imposition of the Law ([1999] S.C.R. 497) test nine years ago. Hailing the original Andrews ([1989] 1 S.C.R. 143) formulation as supreme, with […]