Considering putting a hyperlink on your website or blog? The case Crookes v Newton, 2009 BCCA 392 [Crookes], may give you pause to reconsider. Although the British Columbia Court of Appeal ("BCCA") held in Crookes that a website owner will not be liable for hyperlinking to defamatory sites, the decision left a number of unanswered questions […]
On February 25, the British Columbia Court of Appeal ("BCCA") released its decision in the administrative law case Taiga Works Wilderness Equipment Ltd. v. British Columbia (Director of Employment Standards), 2010 BCCA 97. At issue was whether an appellate body is able to cure breaches of the rule of natural justice or procedural fairness committed by […]
If there is one benefit of having a minority government in Ottawa, it's that some aspect of constitutional theory actually gets put into practice. As any political science major (and law student) should know, the federal government is accountable to Parliament. Of course, in a majority government this is somewhat of an academic exercise, since […]
Coulter v Canada "Our usually calm Canadian neighbors are screaming at each other and one American woman has everything to do with it," the Associated Press declared this week in its coverage of the Ann Coulter affair. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly called protesters' behaviour "un-Canadian." Ezra Levant agreed. Now several days after the infamous letter, the camel comment and the […]
Journalists, lawyers, police officers, and students of evidence law are still awaiting the Supreme Court of Canada's ("SCC") decision on the scope of 'informer-journalist' privilege in R v The National Post, 2008 ONCA 139 [National Post], arguments heard May 22, 2009. I do not intend to try my hand at divining the result or the Supreme Court's eventual reasoning in […]
In September, I wrote my first post on this site on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the first appearance of the word “internet” in the Court’s jurisprudence. In that post, I offered some commentary and analysis on the Court’s engagement with the internet age thus far and how it has impacted its reasoning. […]
Nearly two weeks ago, the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") heard arguments in the controversial and much-anticipated case Director, Ontario Disability Support Program v Tranchemontagne (2009), 95 OR (3d) 327. The appeal revolves around two acknowledged alcoholics, disabled by their disease, who seek to receive income support under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act, 1997, […]
In R v Morelli, 2010 SCC 8, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") was faced with a number of complex and intertwined legal issues. The child pornography case turned on the validity of a search warrant obtained on a faulty and problematic ITO (Information to Obtain a Search Warrant). The majority and the dissent had dueling interpretations […]
U.S. Anti-Corruption Law Hurting Haiti's Re-building Efforts? A throwaway line near the end of an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal this week has got bloggers buzzing about whether a U.S. anti-corruption law may be deterring foreign investment in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, thus inhibiting the small island nation's efforts to rebuild itself. WSJ editorial board member Mary […]
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") heard arguments and reserved judgment in Withler v Canada (Attorney General) (see 2008 BCCA 539), the first case in over two years to challenge legislation solely on the grounds it breaches the equality guarantee of the Charter. The appeal revolves around a claim that the reduced payout from the death […]