This past Thursday, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released its decision in Carter v. Canada 2013 BCCA 435, a Charter sections 7 and 15 challenge to the Criminal Code’s prohibition on physician-assisted suicide. In the majority’s view, stare decisis required the court to follow Rodriguez v. Canada, the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1993 decision […]
In R v Alboukhari, 2013 ONCA 581 [Alboukhari], a decision released by the Ontario Court of Appeal on September 27, 2013, the court closely analyzed the trial judge’s finding related to a sexual encounter between two young people on a camping trip. The trial judge had found that the defence of honest but mistaken belief […]
On June 15, 2012, Justice Smith of the British Columbia Supreme Court effectively created an exception to the Criminal Code to allow for physician-assisted suicide. The trial judgement Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) was discussed briefly in a previous post on The Court. Justice Smith gave Parliament a year to amend the laws surrounding assisted suicide, and the Government of Canada appealed […]
While the Criminal Code of Canada provides a great many statutory definitions for terms used within, the conception of some of these definitions can evolve over time. This is particularly true with respect to ‘weapon’ and ‘firearm’, as defined in s. 2 of the Code. Indeed, a rare five-judge panel at the Ontario Court of […]
The accused and D.S. (tried and sentenced separately as a young offender) were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. D.S. pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. As part of D.S.'s plea agreement, Crown counsel, with input from defense counsel, prepared a statement of facts, which was signed by D.S. According to the statement, the accused supplied […]
On September 30th, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his sixth nomination to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC). His pick, Justice Marc Nadon, replaced Justice Morris Fish—a Chrétien appointee and accomplished criminal law jurist. Justices LeBel and Abella are the only remaining Liberal appointees, though Justice Rothstein was short-listed by a committee convened by the […]
With the cost of postsecondary education at a record high, textbooks and other written materials have become increasingly difficult for students to afford. Following the passing of the Copyright Modernization Act [CMA] in 2012, which amended the Copyright Act, an opportunity was provided to teachers regarding their ability to provide students with written materials within […]
In my previous post here on The Court, I discussed the upcoming appeal of Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2013 ABCA 98, and how the Supreme Court of Canada has an opportunity to clarify whether contractual interpretation should be guided primarily by the intention of the contracting parties at the time the agreement was made (the intentionalist […]
On 27 September 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal released two judgments that together uphold an absolute prohibition on holding a cell phone while driving. The provision at issue in both cases was section 78.1(1) of the Highway Traffic Act (HTA). This provision prohibits driving while “holding or using a hand-held wireless communication device.”
On May 3, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously dismissed the appeal of Ivana Levkovic, who challenged the constitutionality of section 243 of the Criminal Code (RSC c C-46). Section 243 makes it a criminal offense to dispose of a child’s dead body with the intent to conceal the fact that it was delivered, […]