Earlier this year, the acquittal of Gerald Stanley in R. v. Stanley, 2018 SKQB 27 (“R. v. Stanley”) sparked important discussions on the Canadian criminal justice system and Indigenous peoples’ experiences within this system. Specifically, this decision sparked a discussion on the representation of … [Read more...]

In the first part of this discussion about juries,I explained some basic points: why we have jury trials and how we decide who should be on a jury. Now, I will discuss some of the more controversial aspects to juries, and will focus on three areas: the costs of (including delays associated … [Read more...]

To many observers, the verdict in the Gerald Stanley trial was wholly unsatisfactory. From the outside, an acquittal in the shooting death of the 22-year-old Cree man Colten Boushie seemed unthinkable: he had been shot in the back of the head, while sitting unarmed in a vehicle. The trial became a … [Read more...]

Former juror Mark Farrant has observed that jury service is the last mandatory form of service since the abolition of military subscription.  Each year thousands of Canadians are called to perform this last mandatory form of civic duty. Jurors play an integral role in the administration of … [Read more...]

The greatest lawyer of the ancient world, Cicero, proclaimed that where there is life, there is hope. It seems to me that one can adapt that saying to the inspiration for retaining the right to a jury trial in the modern world, despite all the potential hazards that individual juries might present … [Read more...]

Juries. To some, it may seem bizarre that 12 laypersons, untrained in the law, would be asked – required – to come into a courtroom and listen to the recounting of events about which they know nothing, involving people with whom they have no familiarity, and then make a decision about whether … [Read more...]