The Court of Public Opinion
One of the fundamental rights that Canadians have in a democratic society is the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a fair trial. Section 11(d) of the Charter states that “any person charged with an offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal.
This right is particularly important in the context of criminal law.
Protecting Prosecutors Against Officers' Revenge
The recent decision of Ontario (Attorney General) v. Clark (“Clark”) creates an interesting conversation around the relationship between the Crown and officers of the law. Specifically, Clark raises a question of whether the actions of Crown prosecutors can open them to civil liability to police officers. Curiously, this is a novel legal question.
The Modern-Day Panopticon: Privacy Under Surveillance - Laura Ayres
Have you ever seen memes making jest of FBI agents reacting to someone’s online behaviour? Funny, right? But if you think a little deeper about the meaning behind these memes, it can get a little scary. Many people today have come to the point where the idea of their privacy being infringed by state actors has become peak humour rather than a feature of a dystopian novel.
Inferring Intent with After-the-Fact Conduct
After-the-fact conduct evidence (“ACE”), also known as post-offence conduct evidence, is circumstantial evidence that “encompasses what the accused both said and did after the offence charged in the indictment was allegedly committed.” The admissibility of ACE to assess intent has historically been controversial. In R v Calnen (“Calnen”), the Supreme Court of Canada (“the Court”) resolved this controversy
Pigeon or Phoenix? The Supreme Court Decides: Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya and the Status of International Law in Canadian Courts
Over the past few decades, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) has increasingly addressed legal issues that refer to various international legal instruments such as treaties, conventions, and declarations. In Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, the SCC clarified a longstanding evidentiary and procedural issue surrounding its status in domestic courts and delivered a ground-breaking decision ruling that customary international law (CIL) is a part of the common law in Canada.
