Considering putting a hyperlink on your website or blog? The case Crookes v. Newton, 2009 BCCA 392, may give you pause to reconsider. Although the British Columbia Court of Appeal held in Crookes that a website owner will not be liable for hyperlinking to defamatory sites, the decision left a number of unanswered questions that [...]

In 1992, a striking gold miner in the Northwest Territories (NWT) planted a bomb which killed nine replacement workers. The ensuing judicial saga, in which the widows of the murdered men sought compensation in tort from the security company guarding the mine, the union, and the territorial government branch responsible for mine safety, ultimately came [...]

The arduous judicial process for the families of victims of one of Canada’s worst mining disasters has finally ended. Last Thursday, the Supreme Court released reasons in Fullowka v. Pinkerton’s of Canada Ltd., 2010 SCC 5, concluding six years of civil litigation stemming from the fatal 1992 explosion at the Giant Mine near Yellowknife. The [...]

On December 22, 2009, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its judgment in Grant v. Torstar Corp. (2009 SCC 61) establishing a new “responsible communication” defence to the tort of defamation. Much has already been said about the decision in media and journalistic circles and the decision has been hailed as a win for public [...]

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada will release judgment in Co-operators Life Insurance Company v. Gibbens, 2008 BCCA 153, an interesting case hinging on the proper interpretation of an insurance policy. I concede that issues surrounding insurance law may not seem terribly interesting at first rub, but the respondent’s extraordinary circumstances give rise to a number [...]

On Friday, the Supreme Court released judgment in the malicious prosecution case Miazga v. Kvello Estate, 2009 SCC 51, long-awaited by the parties involved as final resolution to the bizarre and heartbreaking judicial saga once termed Saskatchewan’s “Scandal of the Century”. The decision is also much-anticipated by my fellow editors at TheCourt.ca, who have previously [...]

On September 18, the Superior Court of Quebec released its decision in the novel and intriguing case of Bil’in (Village Council) v. Green Park International Ltd., 2009 QCCS 4151. The plaintiffs sought to claim against a Quebec corporation and its sole director for participating in war crimes allegedly committed in the West Bank. However, Superior [...]

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear relatively few appeals this November, although one of the most closely watched is certain to be Hardy Broome et. al. v. Government of PEI and PEI Protestant Children’s Trust, 2009 PECA 01. The case considers the controversial possibility that governments may owe a duty of care to orphans [...]

Over the past two decades, academics and judges have debated the issue of awarding damages for violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the absence of mala fides. It took the threat of a dessert ambush to get the matter to the SCC. Back in June, leave to appeal was granted for [...]