In January 2022, headlines across Canadian media ignited a controversy involving Kaycee Madu, Canada’s first Black provincial justice minister. The reports centered on Madu receiving a traffic ticket from a police officer after a traffic stop and subsequently calling the police chief to discuss his concerns over the traffic stop. Almost immediately, a media narrative emerged suggesting that Madu had attempted to use his political influence to avoid the ticket – a narrative that spread quickly, despite the police chief’s clear statement that no such request had been made.

Minister Madu explained that his call was not an attempt to . . . [more]

This submission is part of a column swap with the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) bimonthly member magazine, AALL Spectrum. Published six times a year, AALL Spectrum is designed to further professional development and education within the legal information industry. Slaw and the AALL Spectrum board have agreed to hand-select several columns each year as part of this exchange. 

Tips for drafting effective AI prompts.

On November 30, 2022, ChatGPT’s release marked a pivotal shift in the information world. Despite early explorations by legal research companies like Casetext, generative AI (GenAI) was unfamiliar to most. Fast forward to . . . [more]

PREFACE

This is the first of two posts placing LEAF’s recent report, What It Takes: Establishing a Gender-Based Violence Accountability Mechanism in Canada (“What It Takes” or “LEAF report)” on gender-based violence (GBV) in the context of historical efforts to address GBV (albeit fragmentary references) and more recent developments: the 2021 Joint Declaration by the ministers for the status of women for Canada, the provinces and the territories, leading to the 2022 National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence (“National Action Plan” or “NAP”), the 2019 Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girl . . . [more]

If you’re trying to find government information that is generally not made available, it may be helpful to look in databases of information released as part of an FOI request. Note that availability of this information varies by jurisdiction.

The Government of Canada provides a database of completed Access to Information (ATI) requests made to the Government of Canada after January 2020. “If you find a summary of interest, you can request a copy of the records at no cost using the form below each summary. Requests made through this form are considered informal requests and are not subject to . . . [more]

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming nearly every sector of society, and the legal field is no exception. While AI is rapidly reshaping legal practice, legal education risks falling behind.

Surveys of university graduates indicate that they feel unprepared for the workforce due to a lack of AI integration into their education. Legal regulators like the Law Society of Ontario, emphasize that lawyers must understand AI’s risks and benefits to meet professional responsibility standards. The gap between what is taught in the classroom and what is required in practice is widening by the day.

Fortunately, there are practical and innovative strategies . . . [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) : L’article 15 de la Loi sur l’entraide juridique en matière criminelle confère au tribunal le pouvoir discrétionnaire de rendre une ordonnance de transmission des renseignements et documents saisis si le mandat de perquisition a été exécuté en conformité pour l’essentiel, et non de façon stricte, avec les . . . [more]

The Taliban’s unlawful takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 has become a “human rights catastrophe.” Afghan women and girls are being erased from public life as their rights are systematically annihilated.

On 26 September 2024, Canada announced a plan to take the Taliban to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over their violations of Afghanistan’s obligations under the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The joint plan has been launched by Australia, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands, with support from 22 other countries.

UN experts and human rights organizations are applauding . . . [more]

I am still recovering from our U.S. election which seemed to last forever and is not completely finished yet. As a retired federal employee, I worry about the safety and security of my colleagues back in DC. We were required to be nonpartisan and were unable to contribute to candidates or do any electioneering. The incoming administration seems to be ready to target and fire federal employees.

The law librarians at the Law Library of Congress continue to issue reports including this new report on legislation regarding climate change and the preservation of historic and cultural heritage in Brazil,  . . . [more]

The Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) has released its “Guidelines for the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Canadian Courts” (CJC Guidelines), which represent a significant step towards integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into the Canadian justice system. This article evaluates the CJC Guidelines, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and potential implications. Given my experience drafting similar guidelines, I offer constructive recommendations for improvement, focusing on practicality, comprehensiveness, and responsiveness to the unique challenges of AI adoption in Canadian courts.

Practicality and Usefulness of the CJC Guidelines

The CJC Guidelines are undoubtedly useful in laying a conceptual groundwork for AI adoption in . . . [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) : La règle de droit autorisant les interceptions routières sans motif requis en dehors de tout programme structuré, édictée à l’article 636 du Code de la sécurité routière, entraîne le profilage racial; cette règle de droit viole les articles 9 et 15 de la Charte canadienne des . . . [more]