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Legal News

Articles and posts.

R. vs. B.L. – Victoria Provincial Court

Charges: Assault with a weapon.

Issue: Given the circumstances of the offence and the rehabilitative steps that we were able to guide our client through, whether it was in the public interest for our client to be granted a conditional discharge in this case involving an alcohol fuelled  fight among a group of young men.

Result: Mr. Mines was able to persuade Crown and the Court  to grant our client  a conditional discharge. Our client was placed on probation with a term to continue with counselling and to perform community service work.

Hats off to our Ian Gauthier and all other contributors and editors of the newly published CanLii Criminal Law Ebook! Read Ian’s chapter on victim participation:  Ebook- Sentencing  

R. vs. C.D. – Vernon Provincial Court

Charges: Assault with a weapon; Mischief to property.

Issues: Whether there was a substantial likelihood of a conviction and whether it was in the public interest to proceed with the criminal prosecution in this case where our client allegedly intentionally collided with the complainant’s vehicle.

Result: Mr. Gauthier provided additional information to Crown counsel and was able to persuade Crown to resolve this matter with a s.810 Recognizance (Peace Bond).

 

 

R. vs. J.L. – UBC RCMP Investigation

Charges: Assault.

Issue: Whether there was a substantial likelihood of obtaining a criminal conviction and whether it was in the public interest for police to recommend charges.

Result: Mr. Gauthier was able to provide information to police whic resulted in police closing their investigation. No charges recommended. No criminal record.

Michael Mines weighs in on Use of Force in police dog takedown case.

CTV News: ‘Was this level of force necessary?’: Man hospitalized after police-dog takedown in Nanaimo VICTORIA — An unarmed man was sent to hospital after he was taken down by a police dog in Nanaimo, B.C., on Monday morning. An off-duty officer was out with his police dog at around 9:20 a.m., when he saw […]

Ontario Court of Appeal Opens Door to House Arrest

On July 24, 2020 the Ontario Court of Appeal (“ONCA”) released a potentially monumental decision. In R v Sharma, 2020 ONCA 478, a majority of the panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal struck down portions of the Criminal Code which prevented judges from being able to grant a conditional sentence for many offences.

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Covid-19: Isolation and Domestic Violence

As we enter into the seventh week of isolation across the country many families are finding that social and physical isolation has had a greater impact on their relationships than they could ever have imagined. Tempers are flaring more than usual. Many people are finding themselves uncharacteristically (and often inexplicably) angry and frustrated, and the only people around to direct those emotions at are their family members.

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Sweeping Criminal Code Amendments now in Force

The massive criminal law Bill C-75 came into force on September 19, 2019 and is now the law of the land. The bill has resulted in some sweeping changes and far reaching consequences for the Canadian justice system. Generally speaking, the intent of the new legislation is to help streamline the court process by creating various efficiencies. It remains to be seen whether all of these changes only benefit police and Crown counsel. We feel that there may be no benefit whatsoever to accused persons.

No “Schneider loophole” in Canadian Sex Assault law

We recently saw this news item regarding what certainly seems like a sexual assault case that occurred in Alaska: Link to the Source Article. Make no mistake, the alleged sexual act in this case would clearly be a chargeable offence in Canada.

The SNC-Lavalin Affair: What it highlights for the Canadian justice system

In recent weeks the news headlines have been occupied by the story of Canada’s former Attorney General and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and the alleged interference by the Prime Minister’s office in the criminal prosecution of Montreal-based engineering and construction firm SNC-Lavalin. Ms. Wilson-Raybould has alleged that the PMO put inappropriate political pressure on her […]

December 18, 2018 – New Police Powers for Breath Testing to Start

In our last blog we wrote about some upcoming changes to the criminal law in Canada relating to impaired driving as well as a recent Supreme Court of Canada case relating to impaired driving. For a more in-depth look, please click here. In overview, a part of Bill C-46 comes into force on December 18, […]

New Impaired Driving Laws – Increased police powers; Decreased right to disclosure.

The federal government passed Bill C-46 and it has been coming into force over the last while. It is a companion piece of legislation to the Cannabis Act that made recreational Cannabis use legal in Canada. Bill C-46 deals with Cannabis drug impaired driving and related issues. But what is also in the Bill and […]