Last Thursday, Mohammad Momin Khawaja became the first person in Canada to be sentenced under the 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-36), which was pushed through Parliament in response to the 9/11 attacks in the United States. Background At trial, there was little dispute about the facts of the case. Justice Douglas Rutherford of the Ontario [...]

A Supreme Court ruling issued on Friday now requires the police to hand over records of the discipline and misconduct of its officers as part of its disclosure obligation to the defence in criminal proceedings. The ruling in R. v. McNeil 2009 SCC 3 advances the transparency and accountability of police officers by routinely opening [...]

Leave to appeal has been granted by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Bobby Singh Virk et al. This appeal will answer the question of whether counsel for the accused may be present at an in camera hearing to determine the application of informer privilege. More specifically, the SCC will consider whether a [...]

On November 13, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada heard Judy Ann Craig’s appeal of a judgment rendered against her by the B.C. Court of Appeal. Ms. Craig’s appeal was heard alongside Sa Majeste la Reine c. Yves Ouellette and Kien Tam Nguyen et al. v. Her Majesty the Queen, but this post will only [...]

On 14 November 1997, fourteen-year-old Reena Virk was swarmed and beaten by a group of teenagers in Victoria, B.C., at the south end of the Craigflower Bridge. After the beating, bloodied and bruised, Virk made her way across the bridge to head home. Two of the original attackers, Warren Paul Glowatski and Kelly Marie Ellard, [...]

The Supreme Court has given leave to appeal to R. v. Dudley, a curious case that turns on an murky technicality in criminal procedure: whether a Crown’s invalid election for summary proceedings outside the limitation period effectively voids an information and precludes the Crown from re-electing. The accused in the case allegedly defrauded Alberta Human [...]

In addition to the safeguards available to adult detainees, section 146 of the Youth Criminal Justice Act 2002, c.1 imposes certain requirements that must be met in order for a statement made by a young person in custody to be admissible against him or her in trial. Specifically, (1) the statement must be voluntary, (2) [...]

A little over a month ago, the Supreme Court ruled on the use of prior consistent statements to dispel allegations of fabricated testimony, in R. v. Stirling [2008] SCC 10. The Supreme Court’s latest decision, R. v. Dinardo 2008 SCC 24 revisits the issue of prior consistent statements. Among other things, Dinardo considers some of [...]

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 [...]

On February 7, 2008, the SCC granted leave to appeal to Matt Miazga from the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal’s finding of liability for the tort of malicious in the decision Miazga v. Kvello Estate, 2007 SKCA 57. The SCC correspondingly dismissed the application for leave to appeal the decision in the same case which set [...]