On July 21, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its decision in Alberta v. Cunningham. Our senior contributing editor Joseph Marcus discussed the case earlier this week. Given the significance of this case, and its contribution to the section 15(2) jurisprudence, guest contributor Marina Chernenko provides some additional analysis about the decision’s implications. [...]

It is, in all likelihood, a coincidence that the anniversary of Halpern v. Canada (2002) comes on the heels of Toronto’s annual gay pride festival, but the timing is impeccable. On July 12, 2002, Justice LaForme, for a unanimous Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released a landmark decision that would pave the way towards gay [...]

January 14, 2011 marked the ten-year anniversary of the first same-sex marriages registered in Canada. In 2001, two couples were the first to marry at the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto (MCCT), but the Ontario and Canadian governments refused to recognize the marriages as legal. What followed was a legal challenge to the definition of [...]

What do you do when a foreign state knocks on your door requesting the extradition of individuals facing criminal charges back home? If Karlheinz Schreiber comes to mind, then your answer might be, “No sweat, send him packing.” But the fact that Jószef Németh and his wife, Jószefne Németh, were Roma refugees living in Canada [...]

As someone who came of age in the late 90s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the past decade was always omnipresent. No sex ed. class was complete without a candid discussion about HIV transmission, and the importance of practicing safe sex. But even though HIV was always a part of the conversation, I frankly felt a [...]

Fair is foul, and foul is fair: an overview The latest development in the David and Goliath saga that is The Canadian Government v. Alan N. Young is as intriguing as always, yet also somewhat disheartening. It pits Osgoode’s venerable criminal law professor in his role as Co-Founder/Director of the Innocence Project, an organization that [...]

In R. v. N.S., 2010 ONCA 670, a unanimous Ontario Court of Appeal sets out a framework for triers of fact who that are dealing with a question that is becoming increasingly prevalent in our multicultural society: should a female Muslim witness be allowed to wear a niqab – a veil that covers the face [...]

Over the summer, TheCourt.ca commented on Omar Khadr’s journey through Canada’s courts—from the Federal Court to the SCC and back again. His lawyers have attempted to assert his Constitutional (Charter) rights consistently and unrelentingly, despite constant setbacks. Nevertheless, the Canadian government has successfully appealed multiple decisions so that Mr. Khadr has been unable to realize [...]

Every student has, at one point or another, wondered what may happen if they find themselves entangled in a dispute with their educational institution.  For one York University student, that musing became reality after a dispute with the university wound up before the Ontario Court of Appeal in Jaffer v. York University, 2010 ONCA 654.  [...]

On September 28, 2010, Justice Susan Himel of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice gave her verdict in the case of Bedford v. Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264. Justice Himel’s decision, which essentially has the effect of decriminalizing prostitution in Canada, drew pointed and fierce reaction. Commentators across various disciplines were quick to articulate their position [...]