Access to Justice
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August 06, 2025
Drug appeal illustrates how circumstantial evidence can lead to reasonable inference of guilt
Gerry Crawley, a commercial truck driver operating his vehicle, was convicted of importing and possessing 64 kilograms of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. The drugs, worth approximately $3 million, were discovered in after-market hidden compartments in the sleeper cab of his truck during a secondary inspection at the Pacific Highway border crossing in Surrey, B.C., on March 18, 2021.
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August 05, 2025
B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses appeals challenging provincial mink farming ban
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals in a case related to a provincial regulation banning mink farming, finding the order in council was not ultra vires even if it was influenced by interest groups.
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August 05, 2025
Federal Court of Appeal bars estates from Charter damages in early parole rights class action
The Federal Court of Appeal has ruled that the estate of a deceased federal inmate cannot claim damages for the government’s retrospective removal of early parole, which was found to be a violation of the Charter right not to be punished twice for the same offence.
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August 05, 2025
Ontario Court of Appeal finds ‘golden rule’ key to determining assault case
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently addressed a particularly unusual situation. In the case of R. v. G.G., 2025 ONCA 574, the trial judge found beyond a reasonable doubt that G.G. committed the sexual assault.
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August 05, 2025
B.C. report calls for centralized hub, dedicated phone line for legal information
A report from a group of academics in British Columbia is recommending the province take steps to strengthen public legal education. The “Flourishing” report, which was prepared as part of the public legal education and information (PLEI) sectoral planning project at the University of British Columbia (UBC) school of law, says there is a wide array of high-quality, easily accessible, clearly written legal information available in B.C., which the authors call the “public legal education and information ecosystem.”
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August 05, 2025
Artistry in law and music in the age of AI
In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping every field and industry, transformative advancements are sweeping through the realms of law and music, challenging long-held traditions and unlocking new possibilities.
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August 01, 2025
N.W.T. airport joins national group against human trafficking
The main airport serving the Northwest Territories has partnered with a national movement aimed at eradicating human trafficking.
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August 01, 2025
Why judge’s sentencing error breeds public distrust of system
According to a CBC report, a Hamilton Superior Court judge has been reprimanded for failing to correct a sentencing mistake.
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July 31, 2025
Appeal court rightly strikes down controversial phallometric testing order
Baba Ouedraogo was found guilty of a vicious sexual assault of a 15-year-old on Nov. 2, 2019.
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July 30, 2025
Expert panel recommends 24 pre-1970 Supreme Court precedents for priority translation
The Supreme Court of Canada — which drew fire last year for its posting, and then removal, of some 6,000 pre-1970 untranslated (mostly English) judgments from its website — says it has started to translate some of the court’s “most significant” decisions rendered before the 1970 Official Languages Act (OLA) required all new judgments to be issued simultaneously in both official languages.