Criminal
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June 30, 2025
Saskatchewan furthering commitment to national plan tackling gender-based violence
Saskatchewan is providing more than half a million dollars to several initiatives as part of the province’s ongoing rollout of a national plan to eradicate gender-based violence — with a chunk of the funds going toward an event promoting the “exchange of ideas” between lawyers, law enforcement and advocates.
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June 30, 2025
Alcohol-related driving offences in Canada: Immigration risks and visa application challenges
Canada’s impaired driving laws are among the strictest in the world for the threshold of blood alcohol concentration that can trigger criminal inadmissibility under our justice and immigration laws. The legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) threshold for impaired driving is 0.08 per cent and has significant and potentially harsh consequences for both permanent residence holders and temporary immigration applicants. A single conviction for impaired driving under the Criminal Code is treated as “serious criminality” rendering an applicant inadmissible to Canada under Canadian immigration law.
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June 30, 2025
Saskatchewan regulator’s 2024 report highlights mental health, AI, competency
Saskatchewan’s legal regulator was active last year in continuing its goals of increasing competency, minding members’ mental health and guiding lawyers in the use of artificial intelligence. The Law Society of Saskatchewan (LSS) laid out progress in these areas and others as part of its recently released annual report for 2024.
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June 30, 2025
Can Clare’s Law protect women from abuse?
The first Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme, better known as Clare’s Law, was passed in England and Wales in 2014. Named for Clare Wood, who was killed by her abusive former boyfriend, it provides a way for potential victims of intimate partner violence to find out whether their partner has a history of such violence.
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June 27, 2025
SCC clarifies appeal right from removal orders in immigration judicial review case
In an immigration and statutory interpretation decision that sheds light on administrative law and how to analyze reasonableness in judicial review cases, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that foreign nationals may appeal removal orders to the Immigration and Refugee Board’s Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) if their visas were current on arrival in Canada, even if their visas expire after their arrival here.
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June 27, 2025
Communications Security Establishment Canada releases 2024-25 annual report
The Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSE) has released its unclassified annual report for 2024 to 2025. It provides an overview of activities conducted by CSE and the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security (Cyber Centre), which include various defence and sovereignty initiatives.
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June 27, 2025
Why Ontario appeal court took ‘drastic step’ in impaired case
Can a revolving door be slammed in a person’s face? As unlikely as that might seem, it is what the Ontario Court of Appeal did to self-represented Melissa Hart in its recent judgment, R. v. Hart, 2025 ONCA 451.
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June 26, 2025
Severe prison overcrowding in Ontario requires urgent government action, warns ombudsman
Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé is calling on the government of Premier Doug Ford to act urgently to address a prison overcrowding crisis that helped lead to a December 2023 incident at Milton, Ont.’s Maplehurst Correctional Complex, when nearly 200 inmates were forcibly removed from their cells using flash grenades, had their wrists zip-tied, were stripped to their underwear and were forced to sit on the floor facing the walls while the temperature was lowered.
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June 26, 2025
Grey market revisited
As asked in a recent decision of the Federal Court, when is a TOYOTA bumper no longer a TOYOTA brand product? According to the plaintiffs, when it’s damaged during shipment by a grey marketer. The defendant disagrees (Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation) v. Marrand Auto Inc., 2025 FC 1105).
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June 26, 2025
Rock and law: Defying authority and shattering conventions
Long a cultural battleground, rock and roll fills a space where artistic expression vibrates with the energy of rebellion and the spirit of freedom. Yet, beneath the raw sound and electrifying performances lies a fascinating interplay with the law. Legal themes permeate rock and roll, influencing everything from censorship battles to intellectual property disputes and social justice.