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Law of Probable Dispersal: Whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed
Taxes are inevitable
Swiss banking giant UBS AG (UBS-N15.51-0.39-2.45%) agreed Wednesday to turn over to the IRS the details of 4,450 accounts suspected of holding undeclared assets by American customers, piercing Switzerland’s long-standing tradition of banking secrecy.
Foreign state denies Canadians entry because of names
Israel targets Palestinian-Canadians
Since Americans appearing to have Palestinian heritage are hit also, the US Administration is twisting Israelis’ arms to change the policy. Predictably, the Canadian government is silent.
Israeli Prof Thinks Boycott Only Way to Save Country
Prof. Neve Gordon of Ben-Gurion University, a third-generation Israeli who suffered severe war wounds resulting in physical disabilities, has come out with a strange proposition. The only way that Israel can save itself from what he considers its destructive path is by pressure from the outside world:
I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer. Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the occupied territories have dramatically increased their numbers. The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren’t citizens and lack basic services. The Israeli peace camp has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost nonexistent, and Israeli politics are moving more and more to the extreme right.
It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive international pressure. The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories.
I consequently have decided to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since garnered widespread support around the globe. The objective is to ensure that Israel respects its obligations under international law and that Palestinians are granted the right to self-determination.
Of course his use of the adjective, “apartheid state,” is not without controversy, and has resulted in charges of being anti-Israeli. His response? You just don’t agree with what I say.
However, earlier this year he opposed an international boycott, prefering pressure within Israel and the importance of the Israeli people in making a decision.
Why a shift on this issue?
I say this because Israel has reached a historic crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise his children in Israel, who has been a member of the Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply anxious about the country’s future.
Canada’s Contradictory Constitutional Laws
Here’s some good news for you incoming 1Ls. Canada’s recent constitutional decisions by the Supreme Court are so complicated and contradictory, that even the experts cannot identify the overarching principles.
Prof. Ed Morgan of UofT addreses this in an article in The Globe. He points out that:
- The Canadian military does not ow a duty to detainees that are arrested and turned over to another country
- But our intelligence service does owe a duty to prisoners taken in custody by another state and given to us for interrogation
- Diplomats have the responsibility of having to intervene in foreign legal systems that don’t have the same standards as we do for punishment
- But our police can comply with foreign legal systems that don’t have the same search ans seizure standards
Morgan concludes,
We are a country with distinct national interests, and a society that values universal rights. There is nothing wrong with attempting to craft a body of law that reflects both sides of that coin. But it behooves our judiciary to at least try to rationalize its approach to the constitutional powers of government.
Litigation at this level ought not read like it was driven by the usual legal spin doctors, or by decision-makers who just go with their gut. If we faced our contradictions squarely, and tried to explain each ruling in terms of the last, we wouldn’t just have a more comprehensible law; we would better understand ourselves.
So when it comes to that 1L Constitutional Law exam, the answer that always works? “It depends.” And whatever rationale you provide to explain the inconsistencies, you can take some reassurance that even the experts are not really sure where we stand on these issues.
Crime or trifle?
Mother of baby left in car faces charges
“She was so calm, so indifferent to what I was saying to her, it didn’t seem to have any impact on her,” Landreville said. “I wanted somebody louder than me to say, ‘Wake up, woman, you can’t do this.’”
Definition of gift
According to a judgment rendered by the Tax Court of Canada, the mystery benefactor, named in court documents as Mr. X, paid Landry largely to keep him company, not to dance. …
In Canada, gifts, inheritances, and windfall gains from lotteries or other gambling are not considered taxable.
Definition of marriage again
‘Lola’ continues fight for common-law alimony
Judge Carole Hallee ruled against Lola last month, saying there wasn’t evidence unmarried partners were being discriminated against, and that to recognize all couples in a relationship of permanence as “married” would deny people the choice not to marry.
Religious accommodation
Sikh not mocked in hard hat row, hearing told
A Sikh security guard who would not don a hard hat at a Home Depot store under construction was not mocked or told he could be fired, according to testimony from an assistant manager heard before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario yesterday.
Death by procedure
US judge ‘ignored death row plea’
The prisoner, Michael Wayne Richard, was put to death hours after she allegedly shut the court, despite being told an appeal was imminent.
Dragged out trial loses a judge
Judge steps down in B.C. corruption trial
Judge Elizabeth Bennett is stepping down as the trial judge in the long-running political corruption trial involving former executive assistants to provincial Liberal cabinet ministers.
Mentally ill and the criminal justice system
Mother wants answers as to why son died
When Ikram Said’s son was placed in seclusion for up to 23 hours a day, he begged her to hire a lawyer and get him out of Mental Health Centre Penetanguishene, she said today.
But she never listened to the pleas of 22-year-old Kulmiye Aganeh.
“I thought he was safe in the government’s hands,” the mother said at a media conference where she raised questions about the circumstances of her son’s death five months ago.
Awards
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sLaw- The Court
- British Columbia (Ministry of Education) v. Moore: Comparing Approaches to Comparator Groups in the Context of Anti-Discrimination Legislation
- So You Got Punched By a Cop: Disciplinary Action or Civil Suit? Issue Estoppel in Penner v. Niagara (Police Services Board), 2010 ONCA 616
- The ‘Return to Unanimity’ in Insite and Division of Powers Jurisprudence: Chief Justice McLachlin’s ‘Oversight’
- UofT
- UofC
- UofA
- LexMonitor
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