This summer in R v Quesnelle, 2014 SCC 46, the Supreme Court of Canada held that police occurrence reports that relate to complainants or witnesses in sexual offence cases, and that are not directly related to charges an accused is facing, are subject to the Mills regime. As such, these records may only be released […]
Part XX.1 of Canada's Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46 [the Code], fundamentally altered the way a criminally accused person with a mental illness engages with the criminal justice system. This comprehensive new structure was a response to cases like R v Swain, 1991 1 SCR 933, in which Parliament recognized the need for a new statutory regime sensitive to the […]
In R v ADH, [2013] 2 SCR 269, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") articulated its position on the requisite fault element for the offence of child abandonment. While the SCC unanimously held that the accused in the case should be acquitted, it was split (5:2) on whether mens rea should be assessed subjectively or objectively. […]
In Ontario (Community Safety and Correctional Services) v Ontario (Information and Privacy Commissioner), 2014 SCC 31 [CSCS v IPC], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) was asked to interpret the interaction between the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSO 1990, c F31 [FIPPA] and Christopher’s Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, SO 2000, […]
In R v Sipos, 2014 SCC 47 [Sipos], the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") unanimously concluded that the new evidence presented by James Peter Sipos to the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") did not place the appeal “in that exceptional category in which the evidence is sufficiently compelling that it demands appellate intervention” (Sipos, para […]
Earlier this year, Justice Wagner provided a concise and well-reasoned answer to an interesting question: Having operated a business for a decade in violation of a zoning bylaw, does a company have an acquired right of non-compliance? In Immeubles Jacques Robitaille inc v Québec (City), 2014 SCC 34, Wagner J. found that a business is not […]
A pregnant woman should not have to choose between her health (or the health of her fetus) and work, the Supreme Court of Canada declared in Dionne v Commission scolaire des Patriotes, 2014 SCC 33. In the unanimous ruling from five judges, the court also sent the message that provincial tribunals must take care that their […]
In a decision released on October 17, 2014, Imperial Oil v Jacques, 2014 SCC 66 [Imperial Oil v Jacques], a majority of the Supreme Court Court ("SCC") upheld a Quebec motion court's ruling that allowed plaintiffs in a class action to access relevant government surveillance materials during civil discovery proceedings. The class action arose after an investigation of […]
The recent Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) split decision in Can-Win Leasing (Toronto) Limited v Moncayo, 2014 ONCA 689, barred Can-Win Leasing’s claim for equitable contribution against Mr. Moncayo. In doing so, the ONCA clarified when a surety, after voluntarily repaying a guarantee they share, can demand contribution from their co-surety.
In R v Steele, 2014 SCC 61 [Steele], the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) grappled with the issue of whether the mere threat of violence is enough to satisfy the legal criteria of a Serious Personal Injury Offence (“SPIO”), which is a pre-condition for the Crown to pursue a dangerous offender application. One of the […]