Limits to Hockey Violence
Kevin “Killer” Kaminski’s recent concussion has revived much of the debate over violence in Canadian hockey. Interesting enough it is cases in hockey that have led to the test used in Canada for criminal causation…
Criminal Law
Protecting Minorities in Canada from Free Speech
We’ve had over two thousand new visitors in the past 24 hours. We can track how people get to our site, so we know they are mostly readers of Mark Steyn or affiliated sites. Part…
UK Lawyers join Canadian Critique of Khadr
Law groups in the UK, including the Bar of England and Wales, Criminal Bar Association, Bar of Human Rights Committee and Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association, have joined in the critique of Canada’s handling of the Omar…
Absolute Liability of Corporations
When Areas of Law Intersect The Re B.C. Motor Vehicle Act eluciated some interesting challenges in the intersection of different areas of law. The court cited Joseph Eliot Magnet of the University of Ottawa, The…
Limiting Absolute Liability
Common Law Presumptions Due to the challenges inherent to absolute liability offences, the Supreme Court provided that regulatory offences would be presumed as strict liability. In R v. Sault Ste. Marie, the city was charged…
Absolute Liability & the Charter
Principles of Fundamental Justice The proof requirement for these offences is beyond a reasonable doubt, without any additional fault element. In R v. Pontes, the defendant was convicted of driving without a licence, without knowing…
Types of Regulatory Offences
Types of Regulatory Offences Offences in the Criminal Code are outnumbered by the regulatory offences created by the three levels of government. This quasi-criminal law is concerned with the enforcement of regulatory schemes, and usuall…
Remember innocent exonerated by DNA
The Right to Remain Silent The Toronto Star published an editorial on R v. Singh, where the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a Jagrup Singh, who was interrogated even after requesting to remain silent…
Autopsy Errors Wrongfully Convict
Twelve people criminally convicted of murder of their child or loved one are happy today. Forensic evidence used against them was found to be faulty. Several other pending cases have also been tossed out. The…
Early Origins of the Criminal Code in Common Law
The earliest origins of the common law criminal code is Edward Livinston’s Draft Code for Louisiana in 1826. In 1837, Thomas Babington Macauley then used this to create the Model Penal Code, which was introduced…
Arguing in the Alternative
Arguing in the alternative is a technique often used in criminal law to pre-emptively address the concerns of the opposing counsel by stating their presumed rationale and demonstrating its flaws. Arguing in the alternative can…
The Role of the ICC Prosecutor
The session on Making Prevention Feasible and the discussion with Luis Moreno Ocampo revealed two different conceptions of the role of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution. Prevention and the Role of Prosecutor Justice Richard Goldstone…