Later this month, I’ll be speaking to a group of women on the topic of representing yourself in legal proceedings. The focus of my presentation will be on what you need to know and can expect from the courts if you’re choosing to represent yourself.

In preparing for that presentation, I’m on the lookout for comments from courts across the country on what is expected of the self-representing litigant and conversely, what won’t be tolerated from a self-representing litigant. For example, in the recent decision in Delichte v Rogers, 2013 MBQB 93 (CanLII), the Court plainly and strongly criticized . . . [more]

It’s a big week at the Supreme Court for our professional and personal communities. As most of us are already aware, tomorrow the SCC will hear arguments in the Bedford case and will ponder the criminality of certain acts related to sex work, namely communicating for the purposes of prostitution, being found in a common bawdy house and living off the avails of prostitution.

At the heart of the decision are questions of constitutionality, specifically whether these three Criminal Code provisions violate section 2 and 7 of the Charter. Both the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada maintain . . . [more]

In October 2007 Robert Dziekanski was stuck in a Vancouver airport for 10 hours. An immigrant from Poland, Dziekanski did not speak English and started to get agitated, even throwing furniture.

The police used a taser on Dziekanski within seconds of their arrival, resulting in his death. The incident was captured on video by others in the airport, and raised questions nationwide over the use of police force. This lead to the Braidwood Inquiry, which concluded that tasers can cause death in people with heart irregularities.

The officers claimed that Dziekanski had acted violently, requiring the use of the . . . [more]

Whistleblowing occurs when employees reveal corporate wrongdoing, usually in their organization, to law enforcement. Unfortunately, it is common for whistleblowers to experience demotion, dismissal and otherwise negative treatment from their employers after they disclose the malfeasance or corruption. In order to deal with this serious issue, some companies have created codes of ethics to ensure that their directors, officers and employees are aware of and adhere to standards of conduct that ensure the company performs and is represented in an honest and responsible manner. However, it is necessary for laws to exist to protect employees who feel, in good faith, it is necessary to disclose wrongdoing. In addition to provisions in the Criminal Code that aim to protect employees who make disclosures, some jurisdictions have enacted specific whistleblower laws to provide these protections in the public and private sectors. As well, workers already receive some form of protection under the local Occupational Health and Safety Act, which protects them where they seek enforcement or give evidence in respect of the enforcement of that Act. So what is the state of the law on whistleblowing?

A lawyer in my office pointed out the Samples of Bodily Substances Regulations published in the Canada Gazette Part I (proposed regulations) on June 1, 2013. This proposed regulation was drafted as part of legislative reform that was required as part of the decision in R. v. Shoker. and the related Response to the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Shoker Act which was assented to in March of 2011. as the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statment points out:

This Act amends the probation, conditional sentence and peace bond provisions of the Criminal Code to provide explicit authority for

. . . [more]

There’s some good stuff happening over on Osgoode Hall Law School’s IFLS blog, which is managed by the impressive Sonia Lawrence. I’m referring to a “roundtable” discussion about the recent Supreme Court of Canada case Quebec (Attorney General) v. A, 2013 SCC 5, otherwise known as Eric v. Lola. The old song says “whatever Lola wants, Lola gets” — but not this time. The majority of the court supported the exclusion of de facto spouses from the provisions of the Civil Code governing spousal support and division of property, making Québec (yet again) unique among the provinces. This, . . . [more]

A recent, and entertaining, decision of Justice Morgan demonstrates how sometimes the court must make decisions in the face of being presented with two compelling, competing, theories. It also demonstrates the fundamental legal principle that the Plaintiff has the onus of establishing its case on a balance of probabilities.

The Plaintiff is the owner and operator of a tomato processing plant and storage facility in Leamington, Ontario, the tomato capital of the country.

The Defendant is the creator of the “bag-in-box storage system”. The Defendant manufactures aseptic bags that line the inside of boxes that are designed to be used . . . [more]

When the Class Proceedings Act was introduced in Ontario in 1992, the major underlying rational was that mass tort claims could be dealt with more effectively and efficiently. Litigating these multiple claims collectively would save the courts time and money. Class claims would also be more economical for the parties because they would not need to re-litigate the same facts repeatedly in several forums.

For plaintiffs in particular, the ability to join claims together where the damages would not independently justify securing counsel gave rise to the possibility that members of the public could access the courts in ways that . . . [more]

With 10 years of experience as Privacy Commissioner of Canada behind her, and her term reaching its end, Jennifer Stoddart has released a report titled "The Case for Reforming the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act" which describes how to modernize Canada's private-sector privacy legislation to ensure it is able to meet the current and future challenges of the digital age and protect Canadians’ right to privacy.

Two basic privacy principles are that no more personal info should be collected than necessary, and it should not be kept any longer than necessary. That flies in the face of repeated attempts by governments and law enforcement to collect and retain data, or to require others to retain it.

One example is attempts to pass laws to require ISPs and telecommunications companies to retain data on customers for a fixed period of time just in case it might be helpful to police. Denmark has had such a data retention law in place for many years. The Danish Ministry of . . . [more]

Questions have been raised about the spending of Senators Mike Duffy, Pamela Wallin, Patrick Brazeau and Mac Harb, especially after the involvement of Nigel Wright, former Chief of Staff for the Prime Minister, were raised.

The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson is now investigating Wright, and the Office of the Senate Ethics Officer is investigating Senator Mike Duffy. But the scandal may potentially have criminal implications as well.

Former RCMP superintendent Garry Clement has indicated that charges of fraud or breach of trust may be applicable:

If you look at the allegations and you look

. . . [more]

In fact, it’s necessary for the efficient functioning of the legal system.

Merits and appearances matter.

Cojocaru British Columbia Women’s Hospital and Health Centre, 2013 SCC 30 [CanLII link here], released today, holds, unanimously, that the mere fact judicial reasons duplicate, with or without attribution, a party’s submissions does not amount to reversible error.

The plaintiff succeeded at trial. The BCCA (by a majority) ordered a new trial. The SCC allowed the appeal. Then dealing with the merits, the SCC unanimously varied the trial judgment so that the plaintiff obtained judgment only against one of the defendants. The . . . [more]