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 […]
Despite the uncertainties brought on by 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) concluded another noteworthy year. The Court began to slowly welcome back members of the public on a limited in-person basis after two long years of virtual hearings. Additionally, notwithstanding global disruptions like the war in Ukraine or the internal […]
In R v JJ (2022 SCC 28) (“JJ”), the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) considered the scope and legality of Bill C-51, which attempts to remove some of the hurdles that prevent victims of sexual assault (hereinafter referred to as “complainants”) from coming forward. The Bill was enacted in 2018, as An Act to amend […]
Should the police be allowed to conduct interviews without warning people that what they said could be used against them in court? In a landmark and controversial decision (R v Tessier, 2022 SCC 35), the Supreme Court engaged in a deep analysis and modification of the common-law confessions rule.
“The accused was entitled to a fair trial, not an endless one,” the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC” or “the Court”) asserted in the recent ruling, R v Samaniego, 2022 SCC 9 [Samaniego]. It is a cogent quote in defence of trial management power—a power that allows trial judges to control court processes to ensure […]
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 […]
The recent decision Mikisew Cree First Nation v Canada (Governor General in Council), 2018 SCC 40 divided the Supreme Court of Canada ("SCC"), resulting in an unclear way forward for Indigenous communities seeking to protect their Aboriginal and treaty rights during the legislative process. The case arises from the Mikisew Cree Nation’s application for judicial review of […]
This guest post was contributed by third-year Osgoode Hall Law School student Jamie Shilton (JD, Class of 2019). No serious assessment of the Canadian criminal justice system would be complete without an observation that its normal, everyday functioning incarcerates vast and disproportionate numbers of Black and Indigenous peoples. In a recent article, Akwasi Owusu-Bempah and […]