Librarians and information professionals often play a role in advocating for the open access (OA) to information. I consider myself one of those advocates and will discuss what I think that means.

My OA journey began in an academic environment with the open sharing of research and educational materials, and the enthusiastic promotion of Creative Commons (CC) licences. Later experience outside of an academic institution showed me that “open access” can be applied to all types of materials, incorporate different kinds of open licences while respecting copyright law, use intricate business models, and involve competing ideologies.

If we look back . . . [more]

Many litigants have confusion around pleading declaratory relief. In this blog post, I provide a brief summary of declaratory relief.

A declaration is a narrow remedy. A declaration confirms or denies the existence of a right. It is available without a cause of action. It is also available whether or not other consequential damages are sought (e.g. payment of damages, injunction, etc). 

In Savary v Tarion, 2021 ONSC 2409, Justice Bale of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice provides guidance on seeking a declaration from the court. Justice Bale writes that a declaration is not requested for the finding . . . [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. Restoule v. Canada (Attorney General), 2021 ONCA 779

[527] Historical Aboriginal treaties should “be interpreted in light of the contexts in which they were signed, and that interpretation must be both liberal and dynamic so as to avoid the freezing of rights, while any ambiguity is to be resolved in favour of the Aboriginal signatories.”[444] This requires courts to go beyond the . . . [more]

The U.S. Congress may not be getting much done, but the U.S. Government Publishing Office (GPO) and the Law Library of Congress continue to work on making U.S. legal information more accessible. On September 15^th the GPO announced that it had “digitized the Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications, a historical list of publications the Federal Government produced from 1895 to 2004, as well as other historic government publication indexes. Librarians, scholars, students, and the general public can use these indexes to find historic publications of the U.S. Government. These indexes have been digitized and published for the . . . [more]

The “two Michaels,” Kovrig and Spavor, are not the only Canadians who have been unjustly imprisoned in China. Another Canadian, Huseyin Celil, has been jailed in China since 2006 on specious “terrorism” charges for peacefully advocating the rights of Uyghur people.

These cases provide windows into the morass of everyday violations against Chinese human rights advocates ensnared within China’s legal system. They also provide glimpses into some of the ways China flexes its international muscles to sustain its impunity for rights violations, including atrocity crimes.

China’s opaque legal system and international human rights law

China has no independent legal . . . [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

Change Your Role
Sandra Bekhor

For so many busy lawyers it’s almost too easy to go in and do your time day after day, year after year. But at some point you may find yourself wondering if this is really what you still want to be doing. … . . . [more]

While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a sharp increase in family law conflict, these disputes have recently shifted to vaccination of minors. At times, this is being attempted contrary to one or both of the parent’s wishes.

The Health Care Consent Act, 1996 does not state a minimum age for capacity for medical decisions, but instead provides relevant factors,

Capacity

4 (1) A person is capable with respect to a treatment, admission to a care facility or a personal assistance service if the person is able to understand the information that is relevant to making a decision about

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) : La recevabilité d’une preuve par ouï-dire et l’absence d’une directive particulière au jury sur ce point ont miné la crédibilité de l’appelante de façon irrémédiable; par conséquent, la Cour d’appel ordonne la tenue d’un nouveau procès relativement à une gardienne déclarée coupable sous une accusation de voies . . . [more]

This course has been rescheduled – thanks, Covid – to October and November 2022. Registration is now open.

I am pleased to announce the 2022 edition of the National Family Law Arbitration Course, a 40-hour course organized by myself, Lorne Wolfson and Lawrence Pinksy. This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the arbitration of family law disputes in Canada, and includes two optional 7-hour pre-course programs for mental health professionals and family law lawyers interested in working as parenting coordinators.

While good arbitration courses abound in this country, they tend to focus on employment, construction and other corporate and . . . [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:

• Litigation Legal Assistant (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Junior/Intermediate Solicitor (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Owen Bird Law Corporation)
• Corporate Tax Lawyer (Full-time) | Vancouver, BC
  (Thorsteinssons LLP)
• Senior Conveyancer (Full-time) | Chilliwack, BC
  (Waterstone Law Group)
• Corporate Services

“Set your business plan to win; raise the bar or you’re not going to be prepared.”
– Swizz Beatz

Anyone else working on their 2022 business plan? If you’re like me, you’re in the thick of it right now – pulling data, plotting year-to-date results, analyzing what’s gone well and what hasn’t, and reflecting on why certain things just couldn’t get done. Business planning can be motivating when the exercise is aligned to a clear and simple process.

Know your firm’s strategic plan inside and out – Marketing and business development are generally a focal point of a law firm’s . . . [more]