Where there is no publicity there is no justice. Publicity is the very soul of justice. It is the keenest spur to exertion and the surest of all guards against improbity. Nova Scotia v MacIntyre  , Supreme Court of Canada, quoting Jeremy Bentham The “open courts” principle is as old as the common law. The […]

Introduction  A perennial criticism of the Canadian judiciary is its excessive activism. Many think that the courts have helped fashion Canada into a nanny state and the Supreme Court of Canada is the most interventionist of the nanny courts. The recent case of Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v Wall deals with whether a court […]

“Location is not the litmus test for determining the expectation of privacy.” R v Patrick, 2009 SCC 17, para 6 Introduction In Canada, our home is our castle, at least in legal terms.  We enjoy the greatest constitutional protection of privacy in our homes.  What happens when our private personal information from our homes is […]

Introduction  Vancouver, British Columbia consistently ranks as one of the most livable cities in the world. However, its Downtown Eastside (DTES) community of approximately 18,000 crammed into a few square blocks of social housing units, derelict buildings and temporary shelters – all in the shadow of an affluent downtown – is a glaring exception to […]

This conduct establishes Canadian participation in state conduct that violates the principles of fundamental justice.  Interrogation of a youth, to elicit statements about the most serious criminal charges while detained in these conditions and without access to counsel, and while knowing that the fruits of the interrogations would be shared with the U.S. prosecutors, offends […]