Almost eight years ago, the Ontario Court of Appeal set out an eight-factor test in Muscutt v. Courcelles, (2002) 60 O.R. (3d) 20, to determine what circumstances Ontario could take jurisdiction over an out-of-province defendant. The OCA held that there must be a “real and substantial connection” between the dispute and forum for taking jurisdiction [...]

Quite possibly the single most entertaining jurisprudential moment of 2009 happened this Tuesday, when Judge Clay Land of the U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Georgia finally lost his judicial temper at the antics of Orly Taitz. Orly Taitz is now infamous for her championing of the “birther” cause, whose adherents believe that [...]

Imagine the following scenario: Bob owns a house in a town in Quebec. In 2020, Quebec passes legislation to the effect that no municipality may increase property taxes by more than 10% each year. In 2022, citing the need for higher revenues to account for an increase in police services due to rising crime, the [...]

On Wednesday, TheCourt.ca published a student post on the Supreme Court’s decision to grant leave to appeal to R. v. Caron. Today we publish a second piece on Caron, which was intended to be published earlier but a glitch in our process caused a delay. It is important to note that the following comment was [...]

On August 27th, the SCC granted the Alberta government leave to appeal in R. v. Caron, 2009 ABCA 34. Chief Justice McLachlin, Justice Abella and Justice Rothstein granted the leave application without costs and without reasons. Nevertheless, it seems absurd that making an unsafe left turn has turned into a four year long engagement with [...]

Facebook – the quintessential communication portal. Many people spend numerous hours messaging, writing on walls, and taking quizzes on Facebook. But what is the impact of Facebook on our judicial system? Ideas of privacy, admissibility of evidence, and other issues rise up with the advent of a new era of utilizing Facebook as evidence, as [...]

Dust they are, and unto dust they shall return, yet human beings have difficulty resigning themselves to living in dust. Sometimes, weary of brooms and buckets of water, they are not unwilling to turn to the courts to get rid of it. This case is proof of that. So begins the Supreme Court of Canada’s [...]

On October 23, 2008, the Supreme Court announced that it granted leave to appeal to an unusual B.C. case that, despite a recognized need for refinement, is unlikely to significantly clarify the law of fiduciary duty. Michael Z. Galambos, et al. v. Estela Perez (32586) presents a fact scenario in which the relationship between the [...]

Civil cases involving allegations of criminal or morally blameworthy conduct, such as sexual assault against minors, carry social stigma that go beyond other types of civil disputes. Until very recently, the approaches of U.K. and Canadian courts in addressing the burden of proof in such cases have varied; in general, they tended to apply the [...]

Today’s post will just be a brief note on a case that slipped under our radar here at TheCourt.ca. On April 3, the SCC, in a decision penned by ‘THE COURT,’ allowed the appeal in Canada (AG) v. Lameman, 2008 SCC 14. The plaintiffs in this case were individuals who claimed to be descendants of [...]