Wednesday: What’s Hot on CanLII

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and which French-language case have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about.

For this last week:

1. R. v Tran, 2015 ONSC 5607

[58] Harrison and Blake both demonstrate that even where police misconduct falls short of obstruction of justice, it can serve as a basis to stay a prosecution involving the possession and trafficking of a substantial quantity of drugs. Here, the false creation of a pretext to search the Defendant’s vehicle, combined with the collusive fabrication of a story by the two lead Officers as to why they came to assist in the traffic stop of the Defendant, certainly amounts to egregiously wrongful conduct. This police misconduct outweighs the roughly 12 grams of heroin found by the police. That quantity of drugs is, of course, a serious matter; but the misconduct evidenced here is entirely beyond anything that the courts can accept.

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

2. R v Vader, 2016 ABQB 55

[119] Looking at all of these factors, I conclude that the public’s confidence in the administration of justice requires Mr. Vader be tried for the charges that he murdered Lyle and Marie McCann. Mr. Vader’s long and interrupted march to the courtroom is troubling, however given the seriousness of the charges, and the shared interests of Mr. Vader and the public in his very public name being cleared align to favour a full adjudication of the charges against him.

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

3. R. v. T.F. and T.A.F., 2016 BCPC 6

[45] The accused parents were clearly in a position of authority to the complainant. She was their daughter and, as a result, she was dependent on their care and support. The complainant was 14 years old and lived at home with her parents. She was also dependent on her parents for her safety and well-being. In these circumstances, it is my view that the defence of consent is not available to the accused. I would go further, and suggest, that only in rare circumstances, if ever, would the defence of consent be available to a parent who has applied force to a child.

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

The most-consulted French-language decision was Agence du revenu du Québec c. Groupe Enico inc., 2016 QCCA 76

[160] Le juge affirme que, lorsqu’un individu réussit, malgré de nombreuses embûches, à démontrer le comportement fautif de l’État, il faut viser les objectifs de punition, de dissuasion et de dénonciation prévus à l’article 1621 C.c.Q. Il souligne qu’il est anormal qu’un contribuable doive s’adresser aux tribunaux pour obtenir l’information que l’ARQ avait le devoir de lui transmettre. Il détermine que l’atteinte aux droits fondamentaux d’Archambault et d’Enico était intentionnelle et volontaire au sens de l’article 49 de la Charte. Sur ce point, il retient que l’atteinte intentionnelle et volontaire inclut « les cas où l’auteur a agi en toute connaissance des conséquences immédiates et naturelles ou au moins extrêmement probables que sa conduite engendrera ».

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

* As of January 2014 we measure the total amount of time spent on the pages rather than simply the number of hits; as well, a case once mentioned won’t appear again for three months.