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. Abramovitz v. Lee, 2018 ONSC 3684

[27] I accept and find that Mr Abramovitz lost a unique and prestigious educational opportunity, one that would have advanced his career as a professional clarinetist. It is difficult to quantify such a loss. Mr Abramovitz’s life and career have continued. Imagining how his life would have been different if he had studied for two years under Mr Gilad, and earned his teacher’s respect and support, requires more speculation than the law permits, One hears, particularly in the arts, of the “big breaks” that can launch a promising artist to a stratospheric career. I cannot speculate as too high and how quickly Mr Abramovitz’s career might have soared, but for the interference by Ms Lee. But the law does recognize that the loss of a chance is a very real and compensable loss.[7]

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

2. Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, 2018 SCC 32

[1] Trinity Western University (TWU), an evangelical Christian postsecondary institution, seeks to open a law school that requires its students and faculty to adhere to a religiously based code of conduct prohibiting “sexual intimacy that violates the sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman”.

[2] At issue in this appeal is a decision of the Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) not to recognize TWU’s proposed law school. TWU and Brayden Volkenant, a graduate of TWU’s undergraduate program who would have chosen to attend TWU’s proposed law school, successfully brought judicial review proceedings to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, arguing that the LSBC’s decision violated religious rights protected by s. 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court of Appeal for British Columbia found that the LSBC should have approved the law school.

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

3. Trinity Western University v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2018 SCC 33

[2] This appeal concerns the decision of the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC), made through a resolution of its Benchers, to deny accreditation to TWU’s proposed law school. TWU and Brayden Volkenant, a graduate of TWU’s undergraduate program who would have chosen to attend TWU’s proposed law school, sought judicial review of the LSUC’s decision on the basis that it violated religious rights protected by s. 2(a) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. TWU and Mr. Volkenant were unsuccessful in their application for judicial review in the Ontario Divisional Court and in their subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. They now appeal to this Court.

(Check for commentary on CanLII Connects)

The most-consulted French-language decision was R. c. Piazza, 2018 QCCA 948

[24] L’unique question en litige est donc de savoir si les policiers ont enfreint le droit à l’assistance d’un avocat visé par l’alinéa 10b) de la Charte qui protège toute personne détenue ou arrêtée. Elle met en cause la tension qui existe entre le droit à l’avocat et l’ordre de fournir immédiatement un échantillon d’haleine : R. v. George, 2004 CanLII 6210 (ON CA), 2004 CanLII 6210, par. 1 (C.A.O.). Dans l’arrêt R. v. Quansah, 2012 ONCA 123 (CanLII), la Cour écrit au par. 14 « we are yet again asked to consider what the “forthwith” requirement in s. 254(2) means ». Pourtant, la Cour suprême s’est prononcée à plusieurs reprises sur la question. Manifestement, la situation ne semble pas claire.

(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.