Access to Justice
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March 05, 2025
Manitoba appeal asks if police action rose to level of implied threats, other questions
In December 2022, a judge sentenced Kyle Pietz to 16 years in prison for killing office cleaner Eduardo Balaquit. In May of that year, a jury convicted Pietz, then 37, of manslaughter in the 2018 killing. Balaquit’s body has never been found. Pietz denied killing Balaquit, and the whereabouts of his remains are unknown.
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March 04, 2025
Is referring family law cases to mediation after being denied SCC appeal a good idea? | Eric Sadvari
Like many family law lawyers, I recently sat glued to my computer screen watching Ahluwalia v. Ahluwalia being argued at the Supreme Court of Canada. The hearing was intense. As dramatic as it was academically rigorous. The questions from the bench began just 20 seconds in and never let up. For a self-professed family law enthusiast, it was everything I could have asked for.
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March 04, 2025
Why court upheld Licence Appeal Tribunal decision for car salesperson
An Ontario law requires that a car salesperson be licensed. An applicant seeking registration under the Act is not entitled to be licensed if that person’s past conduct affords reasonable grounds for believing that the salesperson will not conduct business under the law and with integrity and honesty (Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, c. 30 s. 6).
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March 03, 2025
NWT law society rolls out professional conduct ‘guidelines’ for lawyers' use of generative AI
The Law Society of the Northwest Territories has issued, for the first time, “Guidelines for the Use of Generative AI in the Practice of Law,” following a similar move by several Canadian legal regulators that have provided AI-specific guidance for lawyers’ professional conduct and practice over the past year.
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March 03, 2025
B.C. appeal decision in defamation case sends ‘very ominous, chilling message,’ lawyer says
British Columbia’s top court has ruled against a former school board trustee who made incendiary comments online about one of his colleagues. But his lawyer is saying the decision sets a “remarkably low bar” for a plaintiff to advance a libel claim in the future.
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March 03, 2025
Reframing legal technology: From institutional efficiency to user-centric access to justice
Legal practitioners and courts have long anticipated the transformative potential of technology in law. From digitized case management systems to artificial intelligence-driven legal research tools, technological advancements promised efficiency, accessibility, and, ultimately, greater and more meaningful access to justice. However, despite significant investment and integration of digital tools, legal professionals and courts increasingly express skepticism about the tangible benefits of legal technology for justice and access to it.
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February 28, 2025
Nova Scotia court approves $2.1 million settlement in Dell data breach class action
A Halifax law firm has announced court approval of a $2.1 million settlement in a class action lawsuit against computer giant Dell Canada and parent Dell USA over a 2018 data breach.
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February 28, 2025
Nova Scotia planning update of human rights commission
Nova Scotia’s government is planning an upgrade of the province’s human rights commission in a bid to make it more accessible and “responsive” to the public.
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February 28, 2025
SCC rules Métis Nation’s pursuit of overlapping lawsuits against Saskatchewan not abuse of process
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed 9-0 that a legal challenge by the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan to provincial permits that allow a company to explore for uranium on land to which the Métis claim Aboriginal title in Saskatchewan is not an abuse of process and may go ahead, notwithstanding that the Métis have also launched other lawsuits involving similar issues against the province.
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February 28, 2025
Juror questions at heart of successful murder appeal
The Ontario Court of Appeal was asked to review the second-degree murder conviction and sentence imposed on a London, Ont., man who chose to call no evidence in his three-week murder trial in 2021.