The property rights that you have at the end of a relationship depend on what kind of relationship you had in the first place. Are you married? Living together? If you are married, then the property rights that you have come from Alberta’s Matrimonial Property Act. If you are living together but are … [Read more...]
Talking to the Police
The police are key players in the criminal justice system. “To prevent crime and to make sure that there is order in the community, police officers are given special powers to search, arrest and detain any individual who is committing, has committed or who is believed to have committed a criminal … [Read more...]
U.K. Case Potentially Positive Step in Recognizing Human Rights Work as Charitable
Human rights work has a checkered history in the world of charity law. One might have thought that this would be an area where the conception of charity in the popular imagination dovetailed with the public benefit that is the litmus test for qualifying in law as a charity. But that is not so. A … [Read more...]
Whatever Happened to … David Chen and Citizen Arrests
Arrest consists of the actual seizure or touching of a person’s body with a view to his detention. The mere pronouncing of words of arrest is not an arrest, unless the person sought to be arrested submits to the process and goes with the arresting officer. – R. v. Latimer, [1997] 1 SCR 217 The … [Read more...]
Prostitution Law in Canada: Will the Charter Dialogue Continue?
Constitutional law experts, such as Peter Hogg, speak about the relationship between the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) and Parliament as a “dialogue”. Parliament passes a law, which might later be challenged as being contrary to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). Often, after … [Read more...]
Regulation of Employment Agencies
. . . the essential duty of the employment service shall be to ensure . . . the best possible organization of the employment market as an integral part of the national programme for the achievement and maintenance of full employment and the development and use of productive resources. - … [Read more...]
A Tale of Two Lawyers
I recently reread Charles Dickens’ vivid evocation of Paris in the years when the French Revolution had descended into the bloodletting of the Terror, as well as London, which served as a home for French exiles who had fled the murderous impulse for revenge that had swept up the long- suffering and … [Read more...]
Whatever Happened to … Childs v. Desormeaux: Killer Hospitality
Can you be held legally responsible if you serve a friend alcohol at your house and he or she then drives away and injures or kills another person? Alcohol-fueled social gatherings give rise to the issue of social host liability, both to guests and to third parties who may be affected by your … [Read more...]
Can a landlord charge a tenant for renovations?
I just got a question from a tenant. The landlord replaced all the windows in the rental property, and then gave the tenant a bill for half the cost of the renovations. Seriously.The tenant doesn’t have to pay the landlord the money. There are some costs that are simply the costs of doing … [Read more...]
New legislation eases moves into or out of Alberta for not-for-profits
In mid-May a measure was quietly passed in the Alberta Legislative Assembly that will allow existing not-for-profit corporations to transfer into or out of the province without having to go through re-incorporation or amalgamation and the accompanying onerous paperwork.Not-for-profit … [Read more...]
