Canada’s online legal magazine.

Archive for June, 2023

CHARTER ISSUES as REFLECTED in SECTION 3 and the WORKING FAMILIES DECISIONS: PART 6

Preamble

This post is the sixth of a series considering three major issues under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: the impact of how the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has defined rights; the relationship between rights; and the relationship between guarantees of rights and freedoms and section 1 of the Charter. . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues, Substantive Law, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Tips Tuesday: Save Your Closed Brower Tabs

Ever closed a browser tab accidentally and been unable to find it again? Sure, you could try to go through your browser history to attempt to locate it, but if you’re like me you likely keep your tabs open for days (sometimes weeks) at a time making a search through your history futile.

There are two ways that you can recover closed tabs. The methods vary between browsers and therefore, these tips will apply to Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome (sorry Microsoft Edge users!). The first method is to “Recover Last Session” or review “Recently Closed”.

In Google Chrome:

  • Click
. . . [more]
Posted in: Technology, Technology: Internet

Balance the Scales: Service vs Servitude™

The law is a helping profession. Outsiders might scoff, but all of us in the industry know this to be so.

Ask a thousand lawyers what they value about their work, and most will draw a connection to helping. One bankruptcy lawyer told me that what motivates him is helping people to make a fresh start. Business lawyers have spoken with passion about helping their entrepreneurial clients. Personal injury lawyers have told me how much they care about helping injured persons recover and rebuild their lives.

What is meaningful to lawyers about their work is, in a word, service.

What . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Eloise Gratton 2. The Every Lawyer 3. Off the Tracks Podcast 4. Michael Geist 5. Meurrens on Immigration

Eloise Gratton
BLG translation of the CAI draft guidelines on consent

The Quebec’s privacy regulator, the Commission d’accès à information (“CAI”), recently published draft guidelines on consent published as

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

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) : Une peine de 8 mois d’emprisonnement est imposée à un accusé déclaré coupable de conduite dangereuse ayant causé la mort d’un jeune motocycliste; le tribunal a notamment conclu que le crime relève d’un seul comportement téméraire et non d’une volonté assumée de commettre l’infraction.

Intitulé : R. . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

Ten Years of Writing for Slaw and Filling the Gaps in Legal Publishing

Yesterday marked the ten year anniversary of my first regular Slaw column. I don’t think I could have guessed I would still be writing it after so much time, and it’s gratifying to hear when people say that they read my pieces. Having a venue where I can write regularly has been a gift for me as I enjoy being able to work out what I think on a subject and writing provides that space.

Slaw fills a gap for a communal interdisciplinary publication that is not filled by more orderly venues. It is thanks to Simon Fodden’s vision and . . . [more]

Posted in: Legal Information, Legal Publishing

Must Have a Good Reason to File Human Rights Claim Late

The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal recently allowed an employee’s discrimination complaint to proceed even though it was filed 18 months after the last instance of discrimination, beyond the one-year limitation period. The Tribunal found that the employee had a good reason to file her claim late, and there was no substantial prejudice from the delay. . . . [more]

Posted in: Case Comment, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

Technology Is Changing, and So Should Our Approach to the Self-Representation Problem: Artificial Intelligence for SRLs

By David Lundgren, University of Toronto student Researcher in partnership with the NSRLP

In Canada, self-represented litigants (SRLs) are generally disadvantaged from the onset of their case and throughout the legal process. Litigants are often driven to self-representation by financial constraints or a lack of available resources. Cultural and linguistic barriers, mistrust of the justice system, and negative socioeconomic factors also influence their decision to self-represent. These considerations manifest negatively in SRL experiences and persist throughout cases. In court, self-represented litigants tend to fare worse; they are misperceived as vexatious and misinformed, or simply made to feel they do not . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues

CHARTER ISSUES as REFLECTED in SECTION 3 and the WORKING FAMILIES DECISIONS: PART 5

Preamble

This post is the fifth of a series considering three major issues under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: the impact of how the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has defined rights; the relationship between rights; and the relationship between guarantees of rights and freedoms and section 1 of the Charter. It is the Conclusion to the previous discussions. . . . [more]

Posted in: Justice Issues, Substantive Law: Judicial Decisions

The Fundamental Problem With “the Rule of Law”

Keep your eye on a fascinating project underway in England & Wales, where the Legal Services Board (overseer of all legal regulators there) has launched a “programme of work” devoted to ethics, professionalism, and the rule of law. These are subjects overdue for a critical reconsideration, given how much the world has changed in the last 15-20 years, and other countries certainly will benefit from the LSB’s work here.

It’s worth taking note, however, of the tone of the LSB’s early forays into this topic. A blog post from the Board’s regulatory policy manager, which makes several excellent . . . [more]

Posted in: Practice of Law

Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Crossroad Family Law Blog 2. Le Blogue du CRL 3. Michael Geist 4. Condo Adviser 5. Barry Sookman

Crossroad Family Law Blog
Navigating the Collaborative Divorce Process: A Compassionate Path to Resolution

Divorce is often seen as a contentious and emotionally draining process, with images of courtroom

. . . [more]
Posted in: Monday’s Mix

Summaries Sunday: SOQUIJ

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) : Malgré la gravité des infractions de leurre et de possession de matériel de pornographie juvénile commises par l’accusé, les objectifs de dénonciation et de dissuasion peuvent se concrétiser par des condamnations avec sursis; l’emprisonnement pourrait avoir un effet dévastateur sur l’accusé, qui souffre d’un trouble du spectre . . . [more]

Posted in: Summaries Sunday

3li_EnFr_Wordmark_W

This project has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada | Ce projet a été rendu possible en partie grâce au gouvernement du Canada