Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from sixty recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. SOQUIJ  2. FamilyLLB 3. Canadian Privacy Law Blog  4. Double Aspect  5. FP Legal Post

SOQUIJ
La protection de l’image d’une personne est associée au respect du droit à sa vie privée

Il y aura violation au droit à l’image, en tant que composante du droit au respect de la vie privée d’une personne, lorsque son image sera publiée sans son consentement, alors qu’elle est identifiable, pour une fin autre que l’information légitime du public (Aubry c. Éditions Vice-Versa inc., [1998] 1 R.C.S. 591). Récemment, dans Hammedi c. Cristea, le défendeur, qui est journaliste, éditeur et rédacteur en chef d’un journal, a publié un article auquel était juxtaposée une photographie de la demanderesse coiffée de son niqab. Cette image avait été captée dans un marché aux puces. Pour justifier sa publication, le journaliste affirmait notamment que le port du voile intégral au Québec constitue un sujet d’intérêt public. …

FamilyLLB
Canadian Judge: Real Life Imitates Art in Kramer v. Kramer Case

Given the prevalence of divorce and related family litigation in Canada – and the inherent acrimony and emotionality of the process – sometimes one has to wonder about the view from the judicial bench. Watching the daily relentless parade of recalcitrant spouses, many of whom are intent on “having their day in court” and “sticking it” to their Exes, must sometimes take its toll on even the most hardened judges. Needless to say, judges are chosen for their ability to be impartial in their decision-making, but that does not mean that they have no opinion on the utility or merits of the litigation process in any particular case, or that they can easily overlook the human costs of that process. In a case decided just a few weeks ago called Kramer v. Kramer, the court began the judgment with a lament…

Canadian Privacy Law Blog
Privacy regulators call for measured response to terrorism attacks

In anticipation of new federal regulations to expand police surveillance powers and in connection with their annual meeting, Canadian federal, provincial and territorial privacy regulators, in a media release, have called upon the Federal Government: To adopt an evidence-based approach as to the need for any new legislative proposal granting additional powers for intelligence and law enforcement agencies; To engage Canadians in an open and transparent dialogue on whether new measures are required, and if so, on their nature, scope, and impact on rights and freedoms;
To ensure that effective oversight be included in any legislation establishing additional powers for intelligence and law enforcement agencies….

Double Aspect
Quasi-Meaningless

In one of my very first posts, I wondered what the Supreme Court meant by describing a statute, or a common-law right, as “quasi-constitutional.” I concluded that this description probably did not mean anything substantial, and was little more than an indication that the Court considered the statute or right in question as very important. Its decision yesterday in Thibodeau v. Air Canada, 2014 SCC 67, is further evidence for that proposition. The main issue in Thibodeau was whether the limitation of an airline’s liability for “damages” to its passengers set out in the so-called Montreal Convention, an international treaty dealing with commercial air travel and made part of Canadian law by the Carriage by Air Act, prevented the Federal Court from making an award of damages for Air Canada’s violation of its duties under the Official Languages Act….

FP Legal Post
BTZ band takes home Lexpert Cup at AIDSbeat 2014

Mutual Release won top prize at the 19th annual edition of AIDSbeat on Friday night. The event, a battle of law firm bands that raises funds for the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, took place at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex in Toronto. The theme of the night was “Studio 54.” It was an interesting choice. Back in the 1970s, the people running today’s biggest law firms would have been young, carefree law students and associates who’d rush out each weekend to dance at the coolest clubs of the day. I’m not sure that’s the case now….

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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.