Law360 Canada

Courts can override Crown’s non-consent to judge-alone trial if necessary to protect Charter rights: SCC

Photo of Marie-Claude Bourassa, Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales

Marie-Claude Bourassa, co-counsel with Joëlle Huot for the respondent Crown, Quebec’s Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pénales, said the Supreme Court’s majority has established that the attorney general’s decision whether to consent to a judge‑alone trial under s. 473(1) of the Criminal Code does not fall within core prosecutorial discretion as it does not directly impact the nature and extent of the criminal jeopardy to which the accused will be subjected.

Friday, July 11, 2025 @ 5:43 PM

Elaborating on courts’ jurisdiction to review decisions involving prosecutorial discretion, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a Quebec homicide case that trial judges can override the Crown’s refusal to agree to a judge-alone trial, if it is necessary to protect the accused’s Charter rights. ... [read more]

Federal Court judge strikes SRL’s submission in employment dispute over AI hallucination citation

Monday, July 14, 2025 @ 5:32 PM

In another sign of AI’s growing impact on the law, the Federal Court has ordered that a self-represented respondent’s motion record be removed from a court file because it relied in part on a non-existent court decision hallucinated by an artificial intelligence (AI) research tool. ... [read more]

Feds introduce interim reciprocal procurement policy to protect Canadian businesses, workers

Monday, July 14, 2025 @ 5:08 PM

As Canada continues to negotiate with the United States on tariffs, the federal government has put in place a new Interim Policy on Reciprocal Procurement to “protect Canadian workers and businesses from unfair trade practices.” ... [read more]

Federal Court quashes ISC denial of $200,000 Jordan’s Principle mould remediation funding request

Monday, July 14, 2025 @ 5:07 PM

The Federal Court set aside an Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) decision denying a $200,000 Jordan’s Principle funding request for mould remediation, ruling that ISC wrongly rejected the request due to lack of comparable public services without assessing the concerned children’s health needs. ... [read more]

Alberta giving $1.25 million to groups in bid to end gender-based violence Mickey Amery, Alberta Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Monday, July 14, 2025 @ 5:05 PM

Alberta is launching a new grant program through which more than $1 million will be available to community organizations as part of the province’s ongoing bid to tackle gender-based violence. ... [read more]