On February 2, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to appeal from the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada (“CMAC”) in the case of R v Christmas, 2020 CM 3009 [Christmas]. In this case, the CMAC considers whether a military officer’s s. 11(d) Charter right “to be presumed innocent until proven guilty […]
Introduction The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) bifurcated 8-1 in Canada (Attorney General) v Collins Family Trust, 2022 SCC 26 (“Collins”) with Brown J writing for the majority and Côté J dissenting. The SCC majority allowed the Crown’s appeal from the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) concerning the tax planning and the Income Tax […]
On February 15, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada [“SCC” or “the Court”] heard the appeal in R. c. Marchand, 2021 QCCA 1285 [Marchand QCCA] concerning the constitutionality of the mandatory minimum sentence for the offence of child luring. The case is on appeal from the Québec Court of Appeal [“QCCA”], which upheld the trial judge’s conclusion that the mandatory minimum sentence violated s. 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [“Charter”]. Section 12 guarantees the right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.
In Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario v York Region District School Board, 2022 ONCA 476 [Elementary Teachers], the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) explored whether employees had a right to be protected against unreasonable search and seizure in the workplace under section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter]. Determining that employees have section 8 Charter rights, the ONCA also ruled on the scope of employees’ reasonable expectation of privacy, setting out important developments on this issue in the process. On March 16, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted the application for leave to appeal in this case.
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) will soon comment on the jurisdictional contours of the Tax Court of Canada (“TCC”) and Federal Court of Canada (“FCC”). The SCC has granted leave to appeal in Canada v Dow Chemical Canada ULC, 2022 FCA 70 [Dow Chemical Canada], where the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) ruled that s. 247(10) of the Income Tax Act, RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp) [ITA] is not within the exclusive jurisdiction of the TCC (Dow Chemical Canada, para 5).
Is eyewitness testimony subject to a special standard of jury instructions? In R v Clark, 2022 SCC 49, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) upheld the need for trial judges to provide Hibbert instructions upon eyewitness testimony that leads to an identification in court. In a unanimous oral judgement delivered by Justice Karakatsanis, the court […]
In Yatar v TD Insurance Meloche Monnex, 2022 ONCA 446 [Yatar], the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) considered the scope of appellants’ right to the remedy of judicial review in cases regarding disputes over statutory accident benefit claims. After considering the relevant factors, it concluded that courts should only grant judicial reviews sparingly in the […]
On January 12, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted a leave to appeal on a linguistic rights case appealed from the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCCA”), R v Tayo Tompouba, 2022 BCCA 117 [Tayo]. In this case, Mr. Franck Yvan Tayo Tompouba, the accused, appealed a conviction for sexual assault on the […]
Introduction On April 22, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) granted leave to an application for appeal in the Quebec Court of Appeal’s (“QCCA”) decision in Langford Sharp v Autorité des marchés financiers 2021 QCCA 1364 (“Langford”). The case concerns the appropriate standard of review when assessing the decisions of financial regulators and the […]