These are the tip-of-the-iceberg issues faced by inmates in Canada’s federal and provincial prisons. And according to advocates for better inmate treatment, much more needs to be done.According to Statistics Canada, in 2017/2018, Canadian prisons held just under 39,000 adults:Investigations by … [Read more...]
Transgender Inmates in Canada
How do federal, provincial and territorial laws or policies protect transgender inmates?Individuals may identify with a gender that goes along with their sex given at birth, they may identify with a gender that is different from their sex given at birth, or they may identify with a non-traditional … [Read more...]
New Resources at CPLEA
LawNow is pleased to announce the creation of a new Department, called New Resources at CPLEA, which will be a permanent addition to each issue. Each post will highlight new materials at CPLEA. All resources are free and available for download. We hope that this will raise awareness of the many … [Read more...]
Understanding the Criminal Trial Process
Some 20 years ago, a sexual offender broke into a series of homes in downtown Vancouver. Several of the victims visually identified Ivan Henry as the perpetrator based on an in-person line up, a photographic line up or when he was sitting as the accused in court. Given the similarities between the … [Read more...]
Technology Transforms Criminal Law
As with society in general, the practice of criminal law has changed significantly over recent decades as a result of the amazing growth and development of technologies which, until now, were only ideas and imaginings of science-fiction writers. The lawyer of 20 or 30 years ago would likely be … [Read more...]
R v Fearon : Can Police Search a Cellphone Upon Arrest?
Important Update: Please see the article by Juliana Ho about the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in R. v Fearon. The Supreme Court of Canada decided that the police search of Mr. Fearon's cellphone did breach his Charter s. 8 right to be free of unreasonable search and seizure but decided that … [Read more...]
Bench Press 39-5: Duress as a Defence to Murder
For the first time in Canada, an appeal court has upheld the use of duress as a defence to a charge of murder even though the Criminal Code explicitly rules it out. The Ontario Court of Appeal outlined the factors necessary to support both a statutory and common law defence of duress, for people … [Read more...]
When Prosecution Met Defence: The Michael Bryant Case
Facts of the Case At 9:47 p.m. on Aug. 31, 2009, former Ontario attorney general and CEO of Invest Toronto Michael Bryant, driving home after dinner with his wife, had a violent encounter with a younger man on a bicycle, Darcy “Allan” Sheppard. Sheppard was drunk, and at a traffic light on Bloor … [Read more...]
A Judge Balances Controversy with Compassion
No person is criminally responsible for an act committed or an omission made while suffering from a mental disorder that rendered the person incapable of appreciating the nature and quality of the act or omission or of knowing it was wrong. - Criminal Code of Canada, Section 16 This is known as the … [Read more...]
One Edmonton Youth in Conflict with the Law: A Case Study
We have all been there at one point in time: young, insecure, and impressionable. You would do anything to fit in: wear the right clothes; listen to the proper music; dislike the right people and share the same opinions as all the cool kids. But what if the cool kids were the RCMP acting as … [Read more...]
