The Supreme Court of Canada (the “SCC”) released their decision in R v Telus Communications Co., 2013 SCC 16 on March 27, 2013. The case was previously discussed here. In this case, the police wanted the production of text messages stored in the computer databases of Telus for a police investigation under a general warrant. [...]

As a general rule, individuals should be free from interference by the state unless the law specifically authorizes such interference (see e.g., R v Wong [1990] 3 SCR 36, para 28).  In the context of investigating crimes, this means that the police, again, as a general rule, may only search a person or place likely [...]

As Simmons and LaForme JJA point out at the beginning of this decision, R v Mernagh 2013 ONCA 67 represents the third time in just over ten years that the Ontario Court of Appeal (ONCA) has been asked to rule on the constitutionality of the government’s attempts to restrict the use of medical marihuana. In [...]

On 14 December 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) unanimously affirmed in R v Khawaja (2012 SCC 69) that the terrorism laws in Part II.1 of the Criminal Code are constitutional. Mohammad Momin Khawaja, the first person charged under this new section, assailed the provision on two constitutional grounds. He argued that it violates [...]

On December 20th, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in R v NS, 2012 SCC 72. As Osgoode’s Professor Faisal Bhabha stated in an article written for the Globe & Mail: “The key question for the judges was: Can religious ritual and observance trump the right of defendants to a fair trial? [...]

“This appeal raises a novel question,” Justices LeBel and Cromwell’s majority decision starts out: “[M]ay a wife, whose life is threatened by her abusive husband, rely on the defence of duress when she tries to have him murdered? While the lower courts took a more expansive view of the defence of duress—as being available to [...]

In R v Carvery 2012 NSCA 107 the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (“NSCA”) considered section 719 of the Criminal Code, a provision which establishes credit given for time served pre-sentencing.  Section 719 was amended in 2009 to limit the amount of credit judges could award offenders for time spent in custody prior to sentencing. The [...]

On August 7, 2012, Marvin Wilson, a mentally disabled man, was executed in the state of Texas. This execution took place despite a 2002 Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) ruling that said otherwise. Wilson’s IQ was at 61, which is below the first percentile of functioning; he had the mental capacity of a [...]

The Illegal Lawyer? The phrase “illegal lawyer” may soon be more than just a bad oxymoron. The California Supreme Court (“CSC”) will render a verdict on what could be a huge issue concerning the rights of illegal immigrants in the United States. In re Garcia on Admission S202512 deals with the case of Sergio Garcia, [...]

As the most recent Amici Curae post stated, this summer has definitely been the summer of the gun. In Edmonton, three armoured car guards were killed by a lone gunman on the University of Alberta campus. A daytime shooting at the Toronto Eaton Centre sent shockwaves through the city. And last week, two people were fatally [...]