Protection against self-incrimination is one of the fundamental principles of the criminal justice system. You are probably familiar with the phrase, “pleading the fifth,” which refers to the Fifth Amendment in the American Constitution and provides testimonial immunity for an accused individual. There is no equivalent to the Fifth Amendment in Canada; however, a witness [...]

In Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests) 2004 SCC 73, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) set out the framework for the duty to consult, holding that this duty arises “whenever the Crown has knowledge, real or constructive, of the potential existence of the Aboriginal right or title and contemplates conduct that might [...]

An interesting dispute is afoot in the province of Quebec that involves the Charter, language, politics, commerce, and the market. Quebec’s Office Québécois de la langue française (OQFL), the watchdog agency responsible for ensuring compliance with the Charter of the French Language (s. 159), recently launched a microsite insisting that all enterprises in the province [...]

A number of major multinational retailers operating in Quebec will be taking the province to court this week with the hopes of amending language laws that require business names be posted in French. Section 63 of the French Language Charter states that “The name of an enterprise must be in French.” Many violations are tracked [...]

On 2 November 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) upheld the bulk of Parliament’s amendments to the “over 80” (i.e., over .08 milligrams) drunk driving law in R v St-Onge Lamoureux (St-Onge) (2012 SCC 57). Even before the 2008 amendments, section 258 of the Criminal Code (Code) provided that breathalyzer results are presumed to [...]

The Supreme Court released its unanimous judgment on Teva v Pfizer, 2012 SCC 60 on November 8, creating a very strong precedent for registering patents and the type of disclosure that is necessary. At issue in the decision was Pfizer’s patent for Viagra, its sildenafil-based drug used to treat erectile dysfunction. Due to expire in [...]

Conrad Black has had a difficult year. The newspaper tycoon and former head of Hollinger International Inc recently finished serving a prison sentence in the United States for convictions of fraud and obstruction of justice. Having renounced Canadian citizenship in order to become a British Lord in 2001, Black returned to Canada this past May [...]

Does an authorization to intercept an individual’s private communications include the ability to intercept text messages? The Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered this question in the case of R v Doroslovac, 2012 ONCA 680, which arose from an authorization to intercept the telephone calls of Doroslovac’s acquaintance, Ilic. After intercepting several text messages between [...]

In a unanimous decision, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal held in favour of a plaintiff’s ability to recover interest on a loan used to pay for legal fees in a personal injury claim. On September 23, 2004, Francis LeBlanc was seriously injured when a van driven by Doucet entered his lane on a turn [...]

The concept of freedom is one of the most perplexing issues that modern courts are forced to grapple with. Freedom is the glue that holds liberal democracies together; yet, in the age of terror, restrictions on freedom have become more commonplace as a means to preserve that very concept. The idea that we, as a [...]