Criminal
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May 26, 2025
SENTENCING - Controlled drugs and substances - Conspiracy - Conditional sentence
Appeal by Crown from sentence imposed against respondent Bellows for conspiracy to traffic cocaine.
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May 23, 2025
Supreme Court of Canada gives sentencing guidance on ‘enhanced’ credit for pre-sentence custody
The Supreme Court of Canada has granted a convicted sex offender enhanced sentencing credit (1.5 to 1) for the time he spent in presentence custody at a mental health facility in a judgment that also greenlights judges to consider as a factor in determining a fit sentence the time an offender is expected to need to complete institutional rehabilitative programs and treatment, when such measures are adequately supported by the evidence.
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May 23, 2025
G7 finance ministers, central bank governors release communiqué emphasizing ‘unity’
On May 22, G7 finance ministers and central bank governors reached an “agreement on a communiqué which emphasized, above all, the importance of G7 unity in the face of complex global challenges.”
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May 23, 2025
Sentencing - Sentencing considerations - Rehabilitation - Protection of the public - Aboriginal offenders - Health (incl. mental health)
Appeal by J.W. from a judgment of the Ontario Court of Appeal which allowed in part an appeal from his sentence. J.W., an Indigenous man, repeatedly sexually assaulted the complainant, a worker at the group home where he lived.
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May 23, 2025
Manitoba, Ottawa to fund hate-crime education for prosecutors
Manitoba is partnering with the federal government to invest in “specialized training” for the province’s Crown lawyers in their prosecuting of hate crimes — and will turn to two Jewish advocacy groups to help “co-ordinate and support” the initiative.
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May 23, 2025
Appeal Court cites misapplication of totality as basis for new sentence
No one would deny that child abuse is serious, and more so when the conduct involves child sexual abuse. Should the abuser’s physical and mental condition be factored into a sentence when that person is sentenced? That was a key question before a Manitoba court recently.
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May 22, 2025
Proposed $21-million class action settlement reached for victims of Ottawa doctor
The end of a long-running class action against a former Ottawa family doctor who sexually abused and secretly filmed numerous female patients is potentially in sight with the announcement of a proposed $21-million settlement.
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May 22, 2025
SCC won’t weigh in, for now, on how chronic judge shortages may impact Charter speedy trial right
The Supreme Court of Canada has declined to rule on whether chronic judicial vacancies can contribute to criminal charges being thrown out for unconstitutional trial delay; however the top court appears to be open to grappling with that persistent problem in a future Charter s. 11(b) case, according to counsel for an accused whose Toronto jury trial was postponed for 10 months due to the lack of a judge to preside at the first scheduled trial date.
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May 21, 2025
600 kilometres north of Sweet Grass
It’s 3:27 in the morning, and I’m at my desk in the basement. A fan clicks on behind the furnace-room door, and my fingertips scatter keystrokes across my MacBook like dropped pins. Other than that, it’s silent.
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May 21, 2025
Should TV cameras be allowed in Canadian courtrooms?
The month of May has seen Canadians unusually fixated on courtroom drama. In the United States, we watched as the Menendez brothers sought resentencing to end their “life without parole” for shooting their parents, allowing them in future to go before a parole board to rejoin free society.