Well, we’ve reached the end of 2020. Finally. If you’re like me, you spent more time reading practice directives than new case law, so now is your time to catch up on the new cases of the year that was! This year’s round-up includes a mix of COVID-related cases, along...
Ottawa Criminal Defence Law Blog
Let’s Talk about Phones in Ontario’s Jails
Today is Bell Let's Talk Day, an annual campaign to raise awareness and funds for mental health services in Canada. If you follow any criminal lawyers on social media, you'll see that there is a lot of skepticism for the campaign, given Bell's involvement with the...
The Ultimate Round-up: The top Supreme Court Cases from 2010-2019
As 2019 comes to a close, it's time to reflect on the last decade and the changing landscape of criminal law in Canada. The Supreme Court has released decisions on a wide range of topics, but here are some of my picks (with some help from Twitter law nerds, of...
Tech and Privacy: Protecting Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure
In 2017, I spoke at a conference put on by SERENE-RISC, an organization that works on issues of cybersecurity and aims to protect people from cyber threats. There, I cleverly tricked all of the participants to learning about the Charter by giving an overview of the...
October 2019 Criminal Law Round-up
News:Most of the month of October was dominated by news of the federal election. And while criminal justice issues did not feature prominently in the parties' platforms, the election allowed for some reflection on the Liberals' performance on the justice portfolio...
September 2019 Criminal Law Round-up
This September, 90 days after it received Royal Assent, a number of the amendments contained in Bill C-75 come into force. These new provisions will change procedures in the Criminal Code, ranging from preliminary inquiries, juries, intimate partner violence and the...
Coming into Force: Changes in Criminal Law from Bill C-75
It has now been 90 days since Bill C-75 received Royal Assent, and many sections of the bill come into force today. The massive bill has far-reaching consequences for the procedures in the criminal justice system. Here are some of the changes that take effect as of...
July/August Criminal Law Round-up
Well, the end of summer is upon us. As kids go back to school and holidays come to a close, it's time to dive into some notable cases from the past two months: In R v. Dudhi, the Ontario Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of racial profiling in the context of a...
May/June 2019 Criminal Law Round-up
After a brief hiatus in May, we're back with a double edition of your latest round-up. There is lots to catch up on in the world of criminal law, so read on: News: In June, Legal Aid Ontario announced that it would be cutting various aspects of criminal certificates,...
On Diversity in the Legal Profession
Yesterday, at Convocation at the Law Society of Ontario, the newly elected benchers debated the controversial Statement of Principles (SOP), which requires lawyers to tell the Law Society in an annual report that they have written a statement that outlines their...