Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : L’appel d’Ugo Fredette à l’encontre de 2 verdicts de meurtre au premier degré est rejeté; suivant les principes énoncés dans R. c. Thatcher (C.S. Can., 1987-05-14), SOQUIJ AZ-87111031, J.E. 87-647, [1987] 1 R.C.S. 652, le jury n’avait pas à être unanime en ce qui concerne les divers . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Real Estate Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Associate (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard LLP)
• Policy Counsel – Temporary Position – Conseillère ou conseiller en matière de politiques – poste temporaire (Contract role) | Ottawa,

On December 10, 2021, New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Associate Minister for Māori Development, Nanaia Mahuta, and Minister of Trade and Export Growth, Damien O’Connor, announced the successful conclusion of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPETCA) and invited other APEC economies to declare their intention to join.[1] Canada’s Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development, Mary Ng, announced Canada’s endorsement of IPETCA on the same day.[2]

The IPETCA represents to unique new step for Indigenous participation in the global economy. It is a trade arrangement collaboratively developed by New . . . [more]

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. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65

[1] This appeal and its companion cases (see Bell Canada v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 66 (CanLII)), provide this Court with an opportunity to re-examine its approach to judicial review of administrative decisions.

[2] In these reasons, we will address two key aspects of the current administrative law . . . [more]

Recently, I had the pleasure of joining a half-dozen Canadian and U.S. open science advocates in an online meeting with Senator Laure Darcos of the French Parliament. In advance, we were provided with the Second French Plan for Open Science: Generalizing Open Science in France, 2021-2024, published in July 2021 (with the first French plan launched in 2018). During our meeting, more than one of us commented on how the Plan set a far more advanced and progressive national agenda than anything we could point to in our countries. At the conclusion Senator Darcos expressed surprise at this, saying . . . [more]

INTRODUCTION

In its December 2021 decision in Ontario Teacher Candidates’ Council v. The Queen, the Divisional Court held that the standardized Mathematics Proficiency Test (“MPT”) the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) had developed and the Ontario government had implemented for prospective teachers was unconstitutional because it disadvantaged Black and Indigenous candidates.

As a remedy, the Court allowed all candidates who had otherwise satisfied teacher qualification requirements to enter the profession. . . . [more]

Colombia has long been one of the most dangerous places in the world for human rights advocates, but the danger intensified in 2020 and 2021 with a surge of massacres and assassinations of human rights defenders and community leaders. The dire situation in Colombia has drawn the attention of the international coalition for the annual Day of the Endangered Lawyer marked each year on 24 January.

This year, LRWC is working with the Law Society of Ontario’s Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Watch to organize an online event to discuss the situation of lawyers at risk in Colombia. The . . . [more]

Here are excerpts from the most recent tips on SlawTips, the site that each week offers up useful advice, short and to the point, on practice, research, writing and technology.

Research & Writing

Neil Guthrie

Commas can be confusing, and one of the most common misuses is this: Join partner, Eleni Papadopoulos for this informative seminar on … Sometimes another comma will be placed after the person’s name as well. … . . . [more]

Tobacco is a heavily regulated product. It is regulated under the Tobacco Tax Act to reduce the flow of untaxed products into the contraband market, and this is achieved through requiring a registration certificate for production and sale.

The Applicant in Sobczyk v. Ontario recently asked the Divisional Court to review the decision of the Ontario Ministry of Finance to refuse to issue a registration certificate for the 2021 calendar year. The Application for Judicial Review was dismissed, as the decision was found to be reasonable.

The Applicant is a tobacco farmer who was issued certificates from 2013-2020 on an . . . [more]

Every week we present the summary of a decision handed down by a Québec court provided to us by SOQUIJ and considered to be of interest to our readers throughout Canada. SOQUIJ is attached to the Québec Department of Justice and collects, analyzes, enriches, and disseminates legal information in Québec.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : L’accusé, qui a donné 1 seul coup de poing au visage de la victime lors d’une querelle dans un cinéma, est acquitté relativement à 1 chef d’accusation d’homicide involontaire coupable; le tribunal a retenu la thèse de la légitime défense puisque la victime a été l’instigatrice du . . . [more]

Each Friday, we share the latest job listings from Slaw Jobs, which features employment opportunities from across the country. Find out more about these positions by following the links below, or learn how you can use Slaw Jobs to gain valuable exposure for your job ads, while supporting the great Canadian legal commentary at Slaw.ca.

Current postings on Slaw Jobs:

• Real Estate Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Abbotsford, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group LLP)
• Litigation Associate (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Bernard LLP)
• Policy Counsel – Temporary Position – Conseillère ou conseiller en matière de politiques – poste temporaire (Contract role) | Ottawa,