The blogosphere is buzzing after last week’s announcement that a California judge had struck down the contentious Proposition 8, stating that the constitutional amendment violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.  The decision is a major step forward for proponents of same-sex marriage.  Likely to end up at the U.S. Supreme [...]

Iranian-born Canadian Ali Tahmourpour has finally found success with respect to his discrimination complaint at the Federal Court of Appeal (2010 FCA 192). Last week, a panel of three justices decided that, ten years ago, Tahmourpour was dismissed from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (“RCMP”) as a result of of racial and religious discrimination. Tahmourpour [...]

The Federal Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in Hinzman v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FCA 177 is a decisive, if transitory, victory for American Iraq war resisters seeking refuge in Canada. Transcending the narrow theme of conscientious objection, the decision simultaneously provides authoritative guidance on the standards expected of administrative decision-makers, the [...]

As most readers are likely aware, Omar Khadr has been held at the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay as an enemy combatant since 2002. His trial before a US military commission is scheduled for August 10 of this year. He is charged with five offences: murder in the violation of the law of war, attempted [...]

In December of this year, the SCC is scheduled to decide if the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (“CHRT”) has the authority to award legal costs under the Canadian Human Rights Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. H-6 (“CHRA”). In Mowat v. Canadian Armed Forces, 2006 CHRT 49, the complainant, Donna Mowat, alleged that while a member of [...]

On May 14, 2010 the SCC released its judgment in R. v. Hurley, 2010 SCC 18, which addresses the current state of the law with respect to Vetrovec warnings. In the proceeding, the prosecution relied on the testimony of a jailhouse informant who had a motive to lie and was thus considered to be lacking [...]

(The Court returns after a week transitioning from our 2009-2010 academic-year editorial team to our summer editors. We thank our readers for their patience during this break. From May 3 through to the end of August, we move to our summer publication schedule of three postings per week [usually Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays] with occasional [...]

Baltasar Garzon, universal jurisdiction’s singular Spanish exponent, has been indicted for exceeding his domestic judicial purview. As noted briefly in TheCourt.ca last week, Garzon, the investigating magistrate who began proceedings against, inter alia, General Augusto Pinochet, Argentinian “dirty war” generals, al Qaeda members, suspected Basque terrorists, and the “Bush Six”, has been brought to legal [...]

The Ontario Court of Appeal recently heard arguments in Director, Ontario Disability Support Program v. Tranchemontagne, (2009) 95 O.R. (3d) 327, a case of great interest to constitutional scholars for its engagement with issues surrounding substance abuse and disability. Specifically, the complainants suffer from chronic alcoholism as their “sole impairment” to ordinary functioning.  They have [...]

With the recent release of Canada (Prime Minister) v. Khadr, 2010 SCC 3, the application of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to the activities of the Canadian government outside of Canada continues to occupy centre stage (see TheCourt.ca’s coverage of the Khadr 2010 decision here, here and here). Advocates of Omar Khadr, both [...]