Charter
R v Morrison: Child Luring Provisions are Tested by the Supreme Court of Canada
Online communication platforms give people the tools to engage in meaningful and productive ways. They have also given predators the opportunity to connect with children without supervision, and the ability to groom those children for the purpose of sexual abuse. Accordingly, Parliament has criminalized telecommunications with children for the purposes of facilitating sexualized discussions or […]
Right to be Tried Within a Reasonable Time: R v KJM and Presumptive Ceilings for the Youth Justice System
How should the section 11(b) Charter right to a trial within a reasonable time be applied to the youth justice system? In R v KJM, 2018 ABCA 278 (KJM), the Alberta Court of Appeal ("ABCA") grappled with whether the presumptive 18 month ceiling for offences to be tried in provincial courts, from Jordan, applies to youth […]
Breach of the Peace: ONCA Addresses Police Power to Arrest in Fleming v Ontario
Tensions can run high during political demonstrations, and police are often deployed to monitor the situation and prevent an escalating conflict. In doing so, police have a common law power to arrest individuals when they believe an arrest may prevent a breach of the peace without the requirement that police believe that the person being […]
Collateral Attacks: R v Bird Limits Collateral Attacks against Long Term Supervision Orders for Offenders
Introduction When an individual is placed on a Long Term Supervision Order (“LTSO”) as a result of a criminal proceeding, they are required to follow conditions set by the Parole Board. These can include residency conditions, such as requiring an individual stay in a community correctional centre, commonly referred to as a “halfway house”. Section […]
Breaking the News: What the Cases of Marie-Maude Denis and Justin Brake Could Mean for Journalism
Today’s world is difficult for journalists and freedom of the press values. In the United States, President Donald Trump has described independent journalists as the “enemy of the state." Increasingly, we have seen perpetration of acts of violence directed towards journalists, such as the pipe bomb delivered to CNN headquarters in New York City and […]
Bad Blood? R v Culotta Addresses Admissibility of Admissibility of Blood Samples Obtained by Health Care Professionals
Introduction Often, the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC") issues reasons for their decisions without writing a lengthy judgment of its own. It is easy to overlook these cases as unimportant and inconsequential, as the SCC itself simply adopted the decision of a lower court. The recent case R v Culotta, 2019 SCC 33 [R v […]
R v Reeves: Shared Computer? Don’t Fret—Your Secrets are Safe
People share things. They share rooms, apartments, and wi-fi passwords. They share socks, Netflix accounts, and leftovers. But what does this sharing entail, exactly? As a shared owner, what rights do you actually have? Does shared ownership allow one to unilaterally decide what happens to the shared object or thing? In R v Reeves, 2018 […]
R v Boudreault: Imagine There's No Surcharge
What does it mean to say that a law is constitutional or not? What are we getting at when a label of constitutionality is attached to a law? Of course on one level, we are asking whether a particular provision violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] (or is vires) – a technical […]