Access to Justice
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September 24, 2025
New labour deal brings N.B. Crown counsel up from the bottom: union rep
A union leader representing Crown counsel in New Brunswick is praising the province’s agreement to a new labour deal with his members — who he says were “the worst paid government lawyers” in Canada.
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September 24, 2025
Lawyer Amber Chisholm named chair of N.B. Human Rights Commission
Amber Chisholm has been appointed chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission for a three-year term that began on Aug. 19.
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September 24, 2025
Ruling highlights importance of considering reasons for criminal behaviour
In my latest book, Acts of Darkness, I highlight a theme that runs through our criminal justice system: an undue concentration on what was done that requires punishment, with little attention to why it was done. Fortunately, that focus appears to be shifting. An example of this new approach to sentencing is shown in the case of R. v. Kaiser, 2025 NSCA 56.
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September 23, 2025
Feds to launch gun compensation program via Nova Scotia pilot
Canada’s government is launching a pilot program in Nova Scotia as part of rolling out its amnesty buyback initiative for “assault-style” guns deemed illegal for people to possess.
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September 23, 2025
NCR appeal asks: How long is too long to file an appeal?
How long is too long to file a notice of appeal? In 2013, Ahmed Ahmed pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault but was found not criminally responsible (NCR) by reason of a mental disorder.
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September 23, 2025
View from inside prison: The struggle for mental health help
Prisons are supposedly about helping prisoners rehabilitate so they can re-enter society successfully. In fact, spending time in prison makes it a lot harder to live outside, not easier.
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September 22, 2025
Canadian government should abolish immigration detention
A 39-year-old Somali man, Abdurahman Hassan, died at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre in June 2015 after being transferred from the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., where he had been restrained by 10 individuals attempting to control him.
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September 19, 2025
SCC rules 5-4 in favour of Toronto homeowners’ adverse possession claim against municipal parkland
In a far-reaching adverse possession judgment that rejects a judge-made immunity for municipal parkland facing matured possessory claims in Ontario, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 5-4 that two Toronto homeowners own a piece of adjoining municipal parkland that was fenced into their backyard decades ago by the home’s previous owner.
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September 19, 2025
Federal Court rejects non-lawyer representation in Jordan’s principle case involving 250 children
The Federal Court has dismissed a motion in which a non-lawyer sought to represent 250 children. The matter engaged Jordan’s principle in order to provide funding to an organization that offered behavioural services.
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September 18, 2025
Dalhousie University and faculty ratify labour deal
Dalhousie University and its unionized faculty have now ratified a new, three-year collective agreement, finally ending a lockout that disrupted the start of school.