In R v Fearon, 2014 SCC 77 [Fearon], the Supreme Court of Canada considered the circumstances under which police officers can justifiably conduct a warrantless search of an arrestee's cell phone or other digital device. Fundamentally, the decision required the court to assess and balance the public purposes served by effective law enforcement against the dignity and privacy […]
In High Tower Homes Corporation v Stevens, 2014 ONCA 911, the Court of Appeal for Ontario applied numerous contract law topics in disposing of an appeal regarding an agreement of purchase and sale in relation to two properties.
On December 11, 2014, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) released its decision in Fordham (Litigation guardian of) v Dutton-Dunwich (Municipality), 2014 ONCA 891 [Fordham]. The issue in the appeal was whether the trial judge misapplied the standard of care that must be met by a municipality in fulfilling its duty of reasonable repair of […]
In R v Wilcox, 2014 SCC 75, a paragraph-long oral judgment of the Supreme Court affirms the judgment of Quebec's Court of Appeal, 2014 QCCA 321. In that decision, the majority of the Court of Appeal upheld a trial decision that found James Steven Wilcox guilty of aggravated sexual assault. The charge stemmed from Wilcox's failure to disclose his HIV-positive status […]
In Wall v Office of the Independent Police Review Director, 2014 ONCA 884, the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) provided clarity to the complaint procedure of the Police Services Act, RSO 1990, c P.15 [PSA]. In so doing, they added another chapter to the legacy of the Toronto G20 protests and protected complainant rights.
In Canada (Attorney General) v Confédération des syndicats nationaux, 2014 SCC 49, the Supreme Court applied principles of stare decisis to dismiss the actions of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (“the unions”) as being “bound to fail” given the Court’s judgment in a previous similar case. In contrast, the unions argued that provisions of the […]
The government has slammed the door on parliamentary and public involvement regarding the replacement of retiring Justice Louis LeBel. On November 30, 2014, Justice LeBel turned 75, the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court judges. Most justices often depart some months before their birthdays, but LeBel decided to take his tenure right to the end. […]
In 2013, the Supreme Court on Canada (“SCC”) in R v WH, [2013] 2 SCR 180 [WH, SCC], ruled that the Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal (“NLCA”) applied an incorrect test for reviewing a jury’s decision and, in carrying out its review of the jury’s verdict, failed to give sufficient deference to the jury’s […]
In Amaratunga v Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization, 2013 SCC 66, Justice LeBel, writing for a unanimous court, determined that an employee’s claim for wrongful dismissal against the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) could not succeed due to the jurisdictional immunity that the international organization was entitled to as a result of an immunity order it […]
This comment is the second part of a two-part series analyzing the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) decision in Forest Ethics Advocacy Association v Canada (National Energy Board), 2014 FCA 245 [Forest Ethics]. As outlined in part one, Forest Ethics is a judicial review of interlocutory decisions related to a proceeding on the approval of the […]