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 Cour infirme les verdicts de culpabilité de meurtre au premier degré et de complot pour meurtre rendus à l’endroit de l’accusé; les directives du juge concernant le doute raisonnable et l’évaluation du témoignage de l’accusé étaient erronées, et les questions rhétoriques suggérées au jury allaient au-delà . . . [more]

Several times each month, we are pleased to republish a recent book review from the Canadian Law Library Review (CLLR). CLLR is the official journal of the Canadian Association of Law Libraries (CALL/ACBD), and its reviews cover both practice-oriented and academic publications related to the law.

The Legal Singularity: How Artificial Intelligence Can Make Law Radically Better. By Abdi Aidid & Benjamin Alarie. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2023. 226 p. Includes bibliographic references, figures, and index. ISBN 9781487529413 (hardcover) $44.95; ISBN 9781487529437 (ePUB) $44.95; ISBN 9781487529420 (PDF) $44.95.

Reviewed by Allison Harrison
Head of Acquisitions . . . [more]

The persecution of lawyers in Belarus is the focus of attention during the 15^th international Day of the Endangered Lawyer on 24 January 2025. This international day has been observed by lawyers around the world on the 24^th of January every year since 2010.

Each year the focus is on a country where lawyers and legal professionals are at particular risk. In 2025 the focus is on Belarus.

This year’s coalition of 31 lawyers’ organizations around the world has documented the dire situation of Belarusian lawyers and legal professionals in a 34-page report released today.

A concerted attack . . . [more]

In a legal industry increasingly defined by change and disruption, micro-credential courses can give lawyers the flexibility they need to adapt and thrive in the profession.

With over 50 certificates offered across more than 25 subject areas that run the gamut of legal practice, Osgoode Professional Development’s micro-credential courses allow attendees to:

• Expand their practical legal knowledge and skills
• Make their professional development and career goals a reality
• Fit their learning around a busy work schedule
• Grow their professional network with influential peers and acknowledged experts

Laser focused learning

Although they come without a formal university credit, Osgoode’s certificate programs . . . [more]

2024 has been a tough year. I don’t know about you, but I needed to end the year with something good to cling to going into 2025. The Advent season spurred a lot of talk about hope, so I looked for things that provided a glimpse of hope for the future of access to justice in BC and beyond. We are tired and need encouragement to keep working.

The good news is that there is much to be hopeful about in the A2J space! Here are some links (Note 1) that crossed my desk in the last month showing recent . . . [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.

PÉNAL (DROIT) : Le juge de première instance a commis une erreur de principe en prononçant, à l’égard d’un homme ayant agressé sexuellement sa partenaire intime, un sursis de peine qui ne reflétait pas adéquatement les objectifs de dénonciation et de dissuasion; la Cour substitue à celui-ci une peine d’emprisonnement . . . [more]

One of the earliest projects that was launched at the University of Victoria’s AI Risk and Regulation Lab was a mapping initiative that tracked both how artificial intelligence (AI) is regulated and litigated. To date, litigation tracking has primarily been focused on cases arising from the United States and internationally as until November 2024, there was virtually no domestic litigation to discuss. That changed recently when two lawsuits were filed in the month of November, signaling that Canada is now joining an international surge of AI-related legal disputes. In this column I will briefly review the two recently launched cases . . . [more]

Regular readers of this column (thank you) will recognize copyright reform is a common interest of mine, especially as such reform might lead to greater public access to research. Still, I only took up the copyright torch after a very loose consensus – among researchers, publishers, librarians and funders – around open access’ scientific value began to emerge. Such consensus has been called the iron law of copyright reform. Could such reform address, I dared to hope, reduce such impediments to open access as publishers dragging their heels, while holding on to subscription arrangements, even as they introduced rampant price . . . [more]

Imagine being offered a career-defining opportunity—one that could catapult your skills and confidence to the next level. Now, imagine turning it down, not because you lack potential, but because you fear falling short. This scenario is more common than you think, and the difference between seizing such opportunities and walking away often comes down to mindset. Are you operating from a fixed mindset, where abilities feel set in stone, or a growth mindset, where every challenge is a stepping stone to improvement?

Here is what this looks like in legal practice: Samantha is comfortable behind the scenes, the partners are . . . [more]

[Une version française suit]

On January 13, 2000, the Supreme Court of Canada issued its landmark decision in Arsenault-Cameron v. Prince Edward Island, 2000 SCC 1 (CanLII), [2000] 1 SCR 3, a case significant for its impact on minority language educational rights in Canada. This decision was also the Court’s first to adopt the Neutral Citation Standard for Case Law, a pivotal innovation introduced in 1999 by the Canadian Citation Committee. Neutral citations have since become a cornerstone of Canadian legal practice, providing a standardized, vendor-neutral method for referring to judicial decisions, as reported many times here . . . [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.

INTERNATIONAL (DROIT) : Le juge de première instance n’a pas commis d’erreur lorsqu’il a conclu à l’application de l’exception de renonciation résultant de l’engagement et du consentement des parties à soumettre un différend à l’arbitrage; il faut par ailleurs considérer que l’appelante a accepté que toute sentence résultant de l’arbitrage . . . [more]