As wind farms become an increasingly common sight in Ontario’s rural communities, disputes among residents and green-energy developers are likely to occur with ever-greater frequency. In the past two years, the Environmental Review Tribunal (“ERT”) has heard a number of complaints regarding the approval of wind-farm projects by the Ministry of the Environment. In this […]
The definitions of what is a method of medical treatment and what is an invention were under scrutiny in a recent Federal Court decision. In AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd. v Canada (Attorney General), 2014 FC 1251 [Abbvie], a judicial review of an appealed patent decision, the federal judge found that recent guidelines issued by the Patent Commissioner ("Commissioner") […]
In R v Catton, 2015 ONCA 13 [Catton], the Court of Appeal for Ontario had to determine whether several verdicts returned by a jury were fundamentally inconsistent with one another. In a brief and incisive decision, a unanimous Court of Appeal quashed all five of the verdicts on appeal, ordering that two undergo a new trial and entering […]
In R v Garciacruz, 2015 ONCA 27, the Ontario Court of Appeal ("ONCA") overturned a conviction for sexual assault. Akin to many cases, this one came down to consent and a conflict between the complainant and the appellant’s version of events. The trial judge made certain inferences that allowed her to hold that no consent […]
Ever since the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed the Crown's duty to consult with Aboriginal peoples in Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests), [2004] 3 SCR 511, courts have been tasked with determining precisely when the duty is triggered, and against which government actors the duty applies. In Hupacasath First Nation v Canada […]
In Walton v Alberta (Securities Commission), 2014 ABCA 273, the Alberta Court of Appeal (“ABCA”) was asked to assess an Alberta Securities Commission (“ASC”) decision. The ABCA’s rejection of some of the ASC’s conclusions demonstrates the complications security regulators face when applying the law of insider trading and its related provisions.
The Ontario Court of Appeal's judgment in PS v Ontario, 2014 ONCA 900, has determined that a detainee in a mental health institution suffered discrimination and a denial of procedural fairness, contrary to his Charter rights under Sections 15 and 7. The case arose from the 19-year-long involuntary detention of a man, identified only as PS, at a […]
In Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 1, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") made a major pronouncement on the scope of the section 2(d) freedom of association right under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In doing so, the court overturned Delisle v Canada (Deputy Attorney General), [1999] […]
On December 4, 2014, five judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, Third Judicial Department, delivered judgment on a rather unusual matter. In The Nonhuman Rights Project v Lavery, 518336 (NY App Div), the court had to consider whether a captive chimpanzee could be considered a legal "person" entitled to a habeas corpus proceeding. […]
On February 16, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will hold a hearing for the appeal of R v Appulonappa, 2014 BCCA 163, a case that will have a significant impact on immigration and refugee law. The SCC’s eventual decision in Appulonappa will deeply affect both refugee claimants and those who assist asylum seekers […]