I’ve previously argued that retired Supreme Court of Canada judges should not practice law. This column considers a distinct type of post-judicial activity: the private retention of retired SCC judges by powerful institutions to prepare reports in response to controversial events.[1] Such “fixer” work does not necessarily (and, in many scenarios, would not) involve the provision of legal services. However, it still raises concerns. As I outline below, retired SCC judges taking on this type of work risks threatening public confidence in the Supreme Court itself. I recommend that, going forward, retired SCC judges should decline such mandates.

What

Algorithms have become ubiquitous in our society, yet they are widely misunderstood. Many of these misunderstandings arise from widespread lack of understanding of the technical basis for what algorithms are and how they function, but even experts often don’t understand how they work, only that they do in many situations. This lack of understanding means that there are both rational and irrational calls for caution as they are adopted further. To balance the benefits from technology adoption and caution, we need to approach these issues carefully and consider what algorithms are being used for and what underlying technology and data . . . [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

Just supposing…
Neil Guthrie

In a recent e-mail, someone wrote What am I suppose to do? That should be supposed, obviously – but was it a typo or a more serious error? It could just be a typo, or else one of those spellings based on oral information only. … . . . [more]

One Sunday each month we bring you a summary from Supreme Advocacy LLP of recent decisions at the Supreme Court of Canada. Supreme Advocacy LLP offers a weekly electronic newsletter, Supreme Advocacy Letter, to which you may subscribe. It’s a summary of all Appeals, Oral Judgments and Leaves to Appeal granted from July 14 – Aug. 17, 2022 inclusive.

Appeals

Criminal Law: Sexual Assault; Consent
R. v. Kirkpatrick, 2020 BCCA 13; 2022 SCC 33 (39287)

The legal question here is: should condom use form part of the “sexual activity in question” to which a person may provide . . . [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.

RESPONSABILITÉ : Le défendeur a tenu des propos diffamatoires à l’endroit de sa soeur et de son beau-frère dans des vidéos diffusées sur la plateforme TikTok en affirmant notamment que ce dernier est un fanatique d’Hitler pronazi et qu’il a été accusé de terrorisme, ce qui est faux.

Intitulé :  . . . [more]

I’d like to bring to the attention of Canada’s law societies — and courts, Attorneys-General, and everyone else who wields power in the legal system — five reports from each of the past five months about declining trust in government competence and institutional legitimacy, in Canada and elsewhere.

• In March 2022, the Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan assessed the national economic impact of the trucker convoy occupation of Ottawa the previous month, finding that “in the absence of effective and forward-thinking action by government, there will be less business investment, less foreign investment,

Written by Daniel Standing LL.B., Editor, First Reference Inc.

When an employment relationship ends, one of the parties usually has a good reason. Sometimes the parties part ways on good terms, but in other cases, just cause is alleged. In cases of the latter type, a solid factual basis is needed. Otherwise, unproven allegations could prove costly to the employer, as was illustrated in a recent wrongful dismissal action, 2020 BCSC 2298 (CanLII), in which the employer saved its grievances concerning the employee until the last minute, and by then it was too late.

Background

The plaintiff was the . . . [more]

Each Wednesday we tell you which three English-language cases and French-language cases have been the most viewed* on CanLII and we give you a small sense of what the cases are about. La version française suit.

For this last week, the most-consulted three English-language decisions were:

1. Agrium v Orbis Engineering Field Services, 2022 ABCA 266 (CanLII)

[158] First, the purpose of the “Judicature” part of the Constitution Act, 1867 is to preserve the role of superior courts – the judges of which are appointed by the federal government[132] to courts established by a province – as the guardians . . . [more]

Section 8(1) of Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL) prohibits the installation of a computer program on another person’s computer system without express consent. Compliance and Enforcement Decision CRTC 2022-132 dated May 19, 2022, indicates that this analysis is very technical and may in some circumstances require forensic computer evidence to make out a prosecution under this section of CASL.

In 2015, CRTC enforcement staff identified five Canadian Internet Protocol (IP) addresses linked to 1882914 Ontario Inc., operating as Datablocks Inc. and 2348149 Ontario Inc., operating as Sunlight Media Networks Inc. that appeared to be redirecting users to webpages hosting exploit kits. . . . [more]

In my professional experience working as a law librarian in multiple types of institutions, most of the time a question about or related to a situation happening in a foreign country or at the international level comes primarily through one scenario: the researcher read about it in an online media outlet, newspaper, article, blog, tweet, etc. and wants to know more. Understanding, finding relevant sources and making sense of a rapidly (d)evolving and fast moving situation in a foreign country or internationally is an incredibly complicated and labor intensive type of research, no matter how much experience you have in . . . [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

Miscellaneous Misuses, Part 2
Neil Guthrie

An assortment of things to avoid. At its most basic: Something can’t be more or less basic; once you’re at the base, that’s far as you can go. Chomping at the bit: Purists often say that really should be champing (and they’re not wrong). But champ and chomp mean the same thing: to chew vigorously, to munch, to bite at . . . [more]