Every tragedy has private dimensions to which the public is not privy. But should it be? In MEH v Williams, 2012 ONCA 35 CanLII, M.E.H. (respondent), the wife of former Col. David Russell Williams of the Canadian Armed Forces, sought a court order sealing the entire record of divorce proceeding she intended to bring against [...]

Section 32 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms limits the Charter’s application to the activities of the Federal government and Parliament, and the government’s of each province. While the purpose of this provision is to clearly limit the scope of the Charter’s application, as in many areas of law, what initially appears to [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has recently released its decision in Momentous.ca Corp. v. Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball Ltd., 2012 SCC 9 [Momentous.ca], which is only the first in a series of much awaited rulings of the SCC aimed at clarifying the question of jurisdiction Canadian courts have to hear private international [...]

Last week, the Ontario Court of Appeal [OCA] released its decision in Rowan v Ontario Securities Commission 2012 ONCA 208  [Rowan]. In Rowan, the chief issue was whether s. 127(9) of the Ontario Securites Act [the Act], which allows the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) to order administrative monetary penalties [AMPs] of up to $1 million per breach [...]

Prostitution Challenge Passes Muster At OCA After months of deliberation, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a landmark ruling on Monday regarding prostitution laws in Canada. While prostitution itself was not illegal in Canada, up until Monday, several provisions regarding prostitution were. This decision recognizes the rights of sex workers in allowing them the ability [...]

R. v. Ipeelee [2012 SCC 13] is a difficult case. As with most criminal cases, the facts of the case are difficult to stomach: a dizzying confluence of alcohol and drugs and then bursts of violence, particularly against women. Raised without parental guidance in an abusive home, the two defendants, both of whom are of [...]

Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released its decision in Halifax (Regional Municipality) v. Nova Scotia (Human Rights Commission) (“Halifax“), 2012 SCC 10. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Cromwell held that the decision by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission to send a complaint to a board of inquiry for determination was [...]

When it Comes to Homicide, What’s Common? The Supreme Court of Canada will have the opportunity to revisit the charges laid of Adrian John Walle, a developmentally delayed Calgarian (cf. R v Walle, 2010 ABCA 384) on April 13. The Court will decide whether the Alberta Court of Appeal was correct in applying the “common [...]

Graham James Sentence Inspires Timely Debate on Sentencing The highly publicized sentencing of Graham James, a former junior hockey coach convicted of sexually assaulting two players that he coached as teenagers, including former NHLer Theo Fleury, has drawn strong reactions from commentators and victims and inspired timely debate regarding sentencing practices in Canada. James was [...]

Generally speaking, advertisers are in the business of making promises. Occasionally, it falls on courts to determine when businesses will be held to the promises they make, even if they had no intention of keeping them. In Leonard v. PepsiCo Inc., 88 F Supp 2d 116, a favourite of first year contracts students, the US [...]