Summaries Sunday

Summaries of selected recent cases are provided each week to Slaw by Maritime Law Book. Every Sunday we present a precis of the latest summaries, a fuller version of which can be found on MLB-Slaw Selected Case Summaries at cases.slaw.ca.

This week’s summaries are in Jury background checks, Impaired driving , Family law settlements, Mandatory retirement, & Standing:

R. v. Yumnu (I.) et al. 2012 SCC 73
Criminal Law – Procedure – Jury – General – Jury pool – Background checks
Yumnu, Duong and Cardoso were convicted by jury of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit murder. The accused appealed, alleging that the jury selection was flawed because the prosecutor had information about prospective jurors that was not disclosed to their trial counsel. They also claimed that the trial judge’s final instructions to the jury were riddled with errors.
The Ontario …

R. v. Rosenberg (J.) 2012 MBQB 304
Criminal Law – Motor vehicles – Impaired driving – Breathalyzer or blood sample – Evidence and certificate evidence 
The accused was convicted of having care and control of a motor vehicle while having an excessive blood-alcohol level. The accused appealed, alleging that the trial judge erred in ruling that the certificate of analysis was capable of supporting an inference with respect to his blood-alcohol level at the time he had care and control of a motor vehicle.
The Manitoba Court of …

Kedmi v. Korem 2012 NSCA 124
Family Law – Husband and wife – Actions between husband and wife – Practice – Settlements (incl. enforcement of)
A Family Division judge issued an order on July 6, 2012, following a settlement conference with the parties (Ms. Kedmi and Mr. Korem). The trial was to commence January 23, 2012. Instead, Kedmi’s lawyer sought a settlement conference which resulted in negotiations on January 23, 24 and 25, 2012. At the conclusion of negotiations, Kedmi’s lawyer advised the court that a final …

French v. Dalhousie University 2012 NSSC 394
Civil Rights – Equality and protection of the law – Particular cases – Mandatory retirement
The collective agreement between Dalhousie University and its faculty association required professors to retire at age 65. French, forced to retire at age 65 in July 2008, filed a discrimination complaint. At that time, s. 6(h) of the Human Rights Act provided that mandatory retirement due to a bona fide mandatory retirement plan did not constitute discrimination. Legislation to repeal s. 6(h) was enacted in 2007, …

R. v. Emms (J.) 2012 SCC 74
Criminal Law – Procedure – Jury – General – Jury pool – Background checks
Following trial by judge and jury, the accused was convicted of fraud. The accused appealed, submitting that the trial judge erred in refusing to permit him to testify about conversations with a business associate to support his defence of a lack of intent to defraud. The accused also challenged the jury vetting process engaged in by the Barrie Crown Attorney’s office.
The Ontario Court of Appeal, in …

R. v. Davey (T.G.) 2012 SCC 75
Criminal Law – Procedure – Jury – General – Jury pool – Background checks
The accused admittedly killed a police officer by slashing his throat with a knife. He was convicted by a jury of first degree murder. The only contentious issue at trial was whether the accused had the intent to murder. The accused appealed, submitting that the Crown participated in impermissible “jury vetting” and that the trial judge misdirected the jury respecting the use of expert evidence concerning the …

Anderson et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) 2012 NLTD(G) 190
Practice – Persons who can sue and be sued – Individuals and corporations – Status or standing – Class or representative actions – Procedure – General (incl. venue, discovery, etc.)
The Attorney General of Canada applied under rules 30.08 and 30.11 for an order compelling two representative plaintiffs to answer questions on discovery regarding their experiences at identified residential schools. The plaintiffs’ counsel relied on ss. 12 and 18(3) of the Class Actions Act, in support of the position that discoveries …

Menke Holdings Ltd. v. McCrea et al. 2012 SKQB 408
Landlord and Tenant – The lease – Statutory terms – Contracting out of
A landlord appealed a decision of a hearing officer made under the Residential Tenancies Act, which apportioned the security deposit of $975 between the tenant ($775) and the landlord ($200). The landlord argued that the hearing officer failed to give effect to the written agreement by the tenant that the landlord was entitled to retain the security deposit by s. 32(4) of the Residential Tenancies Act, and erred …