I’m sure you’ve noticed the fairly substantial increase in the buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) these days. And, generally speaking, I am at once intrigued and honestly sometimes a little frightened by what seems to be on our horizon.

Case in point. You’ve probably seen the recent Sophia sensation, the humanoid robot built by Hanson Robotics. Sophia is engaging, seems intelligent, has a sense of humour and made history in October when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia granted “her” citizenship.

Hanson Robotics founder and CEO David Hanson’s approach to artificial intelligence is to create human-like robots that . . . [more]

The results of two recent studies in the U.S. have used public opinion data to suggest that increasing public support for access to civil justice is a promising way to increase government funding.[1] The argument is that if the civil legal aid system[2] is viewed by the middle class as a program that could benefit them if they encounter trouble, rather than being only for the poor, a wider segment of the public will have a stake in access to justice and they will support higher levels of public funding. The question of how much public pressure would . . . [more]

Molecular medicine and medical genetics are at the forefront of new and emerging health technologies. With these new techniques and discoveries come new challenges for the law, especially on the privacy front.

Earlier this year, I referenced Bills S-201 and 127 as legislative examples of society attempting to prevent the misuse of genetic information. In particular, there is a concern that incomplete knowledge or understanding of genetic predispositions, and still evolving understandings of how multiple genomes interact with each other, could result in logically skewed and flawed conclusions about employees or the insured, and result in a form of unwarranted . . . [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.

ADMINISTRATIF (DROIT) : Des propriétaires, chauffeurs et intermédiaires du domaine du taxi au Québec échouent à obtenir l’annulation de l’entente de principe et du projet pilote mis en place à l’automne 2016 par le ministre des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports en faveur de la . . . [more]

One Sunday each month OnPoint Legal Research provides Slaw with an extended summary of, and counsel’s commentary on, an important case from the British Columbia, Alberta, or Ontario court of appeal.

Edmonton Police Association v Edmonton (City), 2017 ABCA 355

AREAS OF LAW:   Labour law; Grievance; Employment restrictions; Testamentary risk

~ Where an employee has been investigated for misconduct, but the allegations have been withdrawn, it is not open to the employer to leave employment restrictions in place as a guard against testamentary risk. ~

BACKGROUND:

An officer employed by the Appellant City of Edmonton – Edmonton Police Service was . . . [more]

After about 20 years of studying the Canadian legal sector, I’ve reached a couple of conclusions:

1. The Canadian legal system is in the process of breaking down.
2. No single group within the Canadian legal community can fix it.

To the first point, I’d cite the following:

• Self-represented litigants are swamping and damaging the court system
• As many as four-fifths of all family law litigants are self-represented
• Further damage is done by shortages of Crowns, judges, and immigration judges
• It’s not just court: More than 50% of Canadians don’t even have a will
• Stagnant legal aid funding is causing

We receive dozens of unsolicited messages everyday from people seeking help with immigration problems. Every case is different and there are certain situations where we are not the best representatives to assist. For those cases, we have contacts in other jurisdictions for referrals. As a boutique law firm, we also regularly make referrals to our colleagues who practice, for example, family law or criminal law. For the remaining contacts, we have developed three (3) methods to make sure that we are a good fit for the client and that it makes sense for us to help.

Triage

In a medical . . . [more]

On November 27, 2017, the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017 (Bill 148) received royal assent and is now law. Bill 148 makes significant amendments to the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and are designed to make it easier for unions to obtain collective bargaining certificates in the private sector. Although these changes were originally scheduled to come into force six months after Bill 148 received royal assent, they will now come into force on January 1, 2018. Significant changes to the LRA include: . . . [more]

In August I attended ILTACON, which bills itself as “the premier educational and networking event for the legal sector…ILTACON is the best place to learn what works, what doesn’t and what’s next in legal technology.” This conference is always highly anticipated and always delivers. It’s run and organized well, with excellent panels and a fantastic vendor hall. It’s a four and a half day whirlwind event, leaving everyone exhausted.

I really loved the conference app– a wonderfully built-out tool with session descriptions, tags, ability to choose sessions and add photos. It was a great help in deciding which sessions to . . . [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.

PROSECUTING AND DEFENDING SEXUAL OFFENCE CASES: A PRACTITIONER’S HANDBOOK

Authors: Daniel Brown, Jill Witkin
Foreword: Marie Henein
General Editors: Justice Vincenzo Rondinelli, Brian H. Greenspan

ISBN: 978-1-77255-082-5
Publisher: Emond Publishing
Page Count: 446
Publication Date: October 2017

Regular Price: $99
Series Subscription Price: $85

© 2017 Emond Publishing. All rights reserved. . . . [more]

A very recent example of a court both showing mercy and exercising the power it had with respect to a mortgagor’s equity of redemption with kindness is Winters v. Hunking, 2017 ONCA 909. A mortgagor, a man of limited abilities, and described by Blair J.A. as a man who “did everything wrong”, mortgaged his farm to the plaintiffs. In foreclosure proceedings, the Court of Appeal allowed him to keep the large difference between the amount needed to discharge his debts and the price that could be obtained for the land. The reasons for judgment and the decision are characterized . . . [more]