Parliament resumed today, and Liberal MP for Kingston, Peter Milliken, was re-elected Speaker. From this afternoon’s CBC write-up:

It’s significant that all three candidates were Liberals. Speakers can only cast a vote when there is a tie in Parliament.

As a result, it’s not unusual for a minority government, which needs the vote of every one of its MPs, to ask that only members of the Opposition put their names forward for Speaker.

Meanwhile, constituents of MP David Emerson, who crossed the floor after the elections to become Cabinet Minister in the newly formed Harper government, were protesting:

Elsewhere,

We sometimes forget the impetuses that sparked our interest in the justice system. Two recent new items from the current debates about the limits of presidential power remind us of the importance of the lawyer’s independent judgment.

Remember Alberto Mora and John Dean.

A fine piece in the New Yorker about Alberto J. Mora, the current International Counsel for WalmartAlso see the New York Times and the Washington Post..

Mr Mora was General Counsel to the US Navy who raised concerns about the legality of the treatment of captives in a comprehensive memorandum laying out chapter and . . . [more]

The background to the Survey

There is some indication that the Supreme Court of Canada may be getting closer to permitting the publication of factums on Canlii. The CBA’s Supreme Court of Canada Liaison Committee meets annually with judges of the Supreme Court to discuss matters of Supreme Court practice. The Bar Committee is undertaking an informal canvass on the issue of whether it would be worthwile to post Supreme Court factums on a website after the conclusion of cases. It needs feedback from the Canadian legal community.

At a recent CBA/SCC Liaison Committee meeting on Posting of Factums on . . . [more]

A first for Slaw.

We’re helping out the Canadian Bar Association’s Supreme Court of Canada Liaison Committee by running a two minute survey about whether Factums submitted to the Court should be made publicly available (as is done for the United States Supreme Court). Please feel free to pass the information on.

Supreme Court of Canada Factum Survey . . . [more]

I am not sure how long this link will remain … but check out the new (beta; of course) Google Romance. Make sure to take the tour.

Have fun :=). . . . [more]