Articles 2022

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Summer 2017 Ontario Court of Appeal Review

Summer 2017 Ontario Court of Appeal Review

  • September 13, 2017
  • Crystal Tomusiak

Crystal Tomusiak returns with the Court of Appeal criminal law decisions you need to know. In this instalment of the Ontario Court of Appeal Review: Reasonableness of a car trunk search incident to arrest, the problem of recognizing an accused on surveillance video when you can't see his face, and why disclosure of your hydro usage to the police may violate s. 8, but provide no remedy under s. 24(2).

Criminal Justice
Digital Threats and Criminal Prosecutions: The Authentication Debate Continues

Digital Threats and Criminal Prosecutions: The Authentication Debate Continues

  • April 28, 2017
  • Brock Jones

Courts continue to grapple with arguments that much digital evidence is not sufficiently authenticated and should therefore be ruled inadmissible. Three reported decisions since my last update demonstrate that these arguments continue to be viewed as unpersuasive by the courts .

Criminal Justice

Criminal Practice Primer: How to Get Bail Pending Appeal

  • January 17, 2017
  • Melanie Webb

The OBA Criminal Justice Section's Criminal Practice Primer provides concise, practical guidance from experienced counsel on specific aspects of criminal practice. In the inaugural instalment, Melanie Webb explains how to get freshly convicted clients out on bail pending appeal on the day their custodial sentence is to begin.

Criminal Justice
December 2016 Appeal Court Review

December 2016 Appeal Court Review

  • January 03, 2017
  • Crystal Tomusiak

This month from the Ontario Court of Appeal: Crown references to inadmissible evidence in an opening address, jurisdiction to award costs after a Crown stay, and what happens when you try youth and adult cases together.

Criminal Justice
November 6-Word SCC Review

November 6-Word SCC Review

  • November 04, 2016
  • Daniel Goldbloom

[Almost] everything you need to know about the latest Supreme Court of Canada criminal law decisions, in six words or less.

Criminal Justice
November 2016 Appeal Court Review

November 2016 Appeal Court Review

  • November 04, 2016
  • Crystal Tomusiak

This month from the Ontario Court of Appeal: drinking enough to be dangerous but not impaired, using God to bolster a witness's credibility (don't try it), and getting extra credit — or not — for harsh pre-sentence custody.

Criminal Justice
October 6-word SCC review

October 6-word SCC review

  • October 12, 2016
  • Daniel Goldbloom

After an extended summer hiatus, your favourite truncated review service returns. Catching you up on the Supreme Court of Canada's offerings in digestible fashion: All SCC Criminal Law decisions since Vincenzo Rondinelli's last update.

Criminal Justice
Enhanced Credit for Pre-Sentence Custody: An Update

Enhanced Credit for Pre-Sentence Custody: An Update

  • October 12, 2016
  • Grace Hession David

Since the Supreme Court's ruling in R v Summers, it is uncontroversial that offenders are generally entitled to 1.5 days credit for every day of pre-trial custody. What do offenders have to do to lose that enhanced credit? Assistant Crown Attorney Grace Hession David reviews the latest case law.

Criminal Justice
October 2016 Appeal Court Review

October 2016 Appeal Court Review

  • October 12, 2016
  • Crystal Tomusiak

This month from the Ontario Court of Appeal: The Court's first real treatment of the Jordan 11(b) framework, allowing fresh evidence to overturn a murder verdict, and a trial counsel whose incompetence tainted the entire proceeding, requiring a new trial.

Criminal Justice
<em>R v Jordan</em>: Meet the New Test…Same as the Old Test?  (With apologies to Pete Townshend)

R v Jordan: Meet the New Test…Same as the Old Test? (With apologies to Pete Townshend)

  • October 12, 2016
  • Jody Berkes

In R v Jordan, the majority of the Supreme Court provided a completely new test to protect the right to trial within a reasonable time under section 11(b) of the Charter. But is the new test really as different from the old test as the Court says? Chair of the OBA Criminal Justice Section Jody Berkes investigates without delay.

Criminal Justice