On February 3, Juliane Kokott, the German Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”), published her opinion in a watershed case that could significantly impact on entertainment companies who have, until now, guarded exclusive rights to broadcasting live sports events – most notably, “football” (or “soccer”).  Though non-binding, Kokott’s official advice to the [...]

Newspapers once again find themselves on the losing side of libel suits. On July 13, 2010, in Flood v. Times Newspaper Ltd. [2010] EWCA Civ 804 (“Flood”), the England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) (“EWCA”) overturned the trial decision and held that a newspaper was unable to claim qualified privilege for online reporting [...]

In a previous post on the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Bilski v. Kappos (“Bilski”), I discussed how SCOTUS alluded to the possibility that “business methods” could be patented in the United States – a case that did not outline precisely what kinds of business methods entailed protection. Canadian courts, by contrast, had shut the door [...]

Limits of journalistic press freedom for qualified-privilege and fair comment are hotly debated in jurisdictions around the world as courts try to balance the public interest in freedom of information with private reputational interests battling defamation. Last year, TheCourt covered Grant v. Torstar Corp., 2009 SCC 61 (“Torstar Corp.”), a decision that ranked as the top [...]

On June 28, 2010, the US Supreme Court released its reasons in Bilski et al. v. Kappos, No.08-964 545 F. 3d 943 (PDF link) (“Bilski”). The case was widely followed, in particular, by intellectual property firms, as a decision widely favouring business method patents could have had serious ramifications on the patenting practices of future [...]

Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law? The International Court of Justice (ICJ), in a 10-4 decision, answered this question in the affirmative in an advisory opinion to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), titled Accordance with International Law of the [...]

International Court of Justice to Hold Special Elections to Replace Retiring Judges Recently, Justices Shi Jiuyong of China and Thomas Buergenthal of the United States announced their resignations from the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”), both before fulfilling the nine-year terms they were elected to. As a result, two special elections for their replacements will [...]

In light of what is going on across the pond these days, it behooves us to pay attention to what happens where you fail to separate state and religion. Though to be honest, when your head of state also serves as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, such an exercise might be somewhat difficult. [...]

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 [...]

As mentioned in TheCourt.ca’s first Amici Curaie, today heralds historic changes to the United Kingdom justice system: installed in their swanky new digs, by the time this article goes to print the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom will have already opened. The new Constitutional Reform Act 2005, 2005 C. 4, (the CRA) goes beyond [...]