Except when something particularly noteworthy occurs – such as the implementation of a radical new law or the defeat of a government over legislation it is trying to get passed – many Canadians are not aware of the details of our legislative process. In this article, I will sketch out an overview of … [Read more...]
Moving Toward a New and Improved Senate
The following is the summary of a study completed by Paul G. Thomas on the Senate of Canada. The Senate of Canada has changed significantly as a result of the 2014 decision by Justin Trudeau, then leader of the Liberal party, to remove Liberal senators from the parliamentary caucus; and by his … [Read more...]
The Continuing Relevance of International Law in Canada
To some Canadians, international law may be perceived as an amorphous body of law with little, if any, direct impact on their day-to-day life. After all, international law was historically referred to as the “Law of Nations”: the laws which governed the conduct of sovereign states as actors on the … [Read more...]
Where the Monarchy Meets the State: Canada’s Vice-Regal Offices
It is a role that straddles several worlds - political, royal, legal and diplomatic - and combines tact, careful judgment, discretion and wisdom. Welcome to the offices of the governor general of Canada and the provincial lieutenant governors.As a constitutional monarchy, Canada’s Parliament has … [Read more...]
R v Reeves: Shared Computer? Don’t Fret—Your Secrets are Safe
People share things. They share rooms, apartments, and wi-fi passwords. They share socks, Netflix accounts, and leftovers. But what does this sharing entail, exactly? As a shared owner, what rights do you actually have? Does shared ownership allow one to unilaterally decide what happens to the … [Read more...]
Privacy in Judicial Decisions
Everything secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity.– Lord Acton (1834-1902) Introduction The legal protection of personal information that is collected and held by government is a relatively recent … [Read more...]
Privacy Rights of Children
Introduction There is an ever-increasing concern for privacy rights of children. Privacy has many different dimensions and involves many different actors. The Oxford dictionary describes it as: “a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people”. Privacy may be sought from the … [Read more...]
Jury Trials: Cost, Controversy and Secret Powers
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...]
Transparency Around Jurors and Verdicts Would Help Trial Fairness
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...]
The Lack of Representation of Indigenous People in Canadian Juries
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...]
