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 60 mois d’emprisonnement est imposée à un jeune qui s’est enfui des policiers et a jeté une arme à feu chargée dans la cour arrière d’une maison 1 an après avoir été filmé avec une autre arme à feu prohibée dans le vidéoclip d’une . . . [more]

In pondering upon what interesting and timely topic about which to write, relating to legal information publishing, it occurred to me that what might be appreciated would be to write and repeat the word “artificial” approximately 333 times, followed by the word “intelligence”, the same number of times and finally the same again for the acronym “AI”. I wondered if readers might have found the approximately 1000-word totality of such efforts, or just the repetition of “blah”, to be as captivating as much of the other agenda-driven drivel produced on the topic, including that offered by the . . . [more]

Periodically on Thursdays, we present a significant excerpt, usually from a recently published book or journal article. In every case the proper permissions have been obtained. If you are a publisher who would like to participate in this feature, please let us know via the site’s contact form.

Challenging Exile Japanese Canadians and the Wartime Constitution

Author: Eric M. Adams and Jordan Stanger-Ross
Publisher: UBC Press
Publication Date: July 1, 2025
ISBN: 978-1-990735-75-2 (pbk)
E-book and audiobook also available
Release date: Oct. 15, 2025
ISBN:9780774872843
328 pages, 6 x 9
71 b&w photos, 4 maps, 4 b&w illus.
Paperback | . . . [more]

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

For this past month, the three most-consulted English-language decisions were:

1. R v Yalahow, 2024 ABKB 328

[1] Abdullahi Hassan Yalahow and Christopher William Wilson were charged with Second Degree Murder contrary to sec. 235(1) of the Criminal Code. Yalahow was also charged with intentionally discharging a firearm at a place knowing that other persons were present contrary to sec. 244.2(1)(a) as well . . . [more]

Over thanksgiving weekend, in a Montreal hotel lobby, I spotted a cluster of matching suitcases with identical jackets draped over them, each one with “Canada” in bold letters across the back. I turned to my family and asked, “Do you think they’re part of Team Canada, travelling together, prepping for the winter Olympics?” My family wasn’t nearly as curious, but they could see the pure joy and excitement all over my face. That moment made me think about the best legal marketing teams I know, because they operate the same way. They win when they’re focused, when moving in the . . . [more]

“Expedition, economy and concision are sound practices in administrative adjudication.”

Justice David Stratas, Canadian National Railway Company v. Canada (Transportation Agency), 2025 FCA 184, para. 47

In this recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal about railway interswitching rates, the court observed that the Canadian Transportation Agency had never “conducted a full and rigorous statutory interpretation analysis, i.e., explicitly examining the elements of text, context and purpose” of those rates. Justice Stratas stated that “[c]utting corners and conclusory statements, without more, are not how the Agency should roll … only explicit and rigorous analysis will do…”

He . . . [more]

After ten hours of flying, an eight-hour layover, a seven-hour timezone change, and one missed flight, I finally made it to my second Legal Design Summit in Helsinki. In 2023, I reluctantly left Helsinki after buzzing with excitement about the like-minded community I had just met and the interesting work being done across the globe to improve access to justice using legal design techniques. The momentum of the event had been fueling my professional interests and writing over the last two years, but it was time for a “re-up”.

After its 2024 hiatus, the Legal Design Summit was back this . . . [more]

As a supplement to our Sunday Summary each month, Supreme Advocacy LLP in Ottawa presents Supreme One-Liners, a super-short descriptive guide to the most recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers its more comprehensive weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, summarizing all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted.

Appeal

Criminal Law: Mandatory Minimums
Quebec (Attorney General) v. Senneville, 2025 SCC 33 (40882)

Mandatory minimum for child sexual exploitation abuse material unconstitutional. . . . [more]