The Complete Brief
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July 28, 2025
SENTENCING - Sexual assault - Particular sanctions - Aboriginal offenders
Appeal by Wiens from sentence of three-years’ imprisonment and 20-year Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA) order. Wiens was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious friend.
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July 28, 2025
New report links homelessness to release from Ontario jails
Almost 10 per cent of people in Ontario experiencing homelessness went from provincial jail to life on the streets — and that number could possibly be much higher. That is according to a new report from the John Howard Society of Ontario (JHSO), From Incarceration to Encampment, which is calling for the provincial government to make a number of policy changes to ensure those numbers go down.
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July 28, 2025
Deportation case shines light on vagaries of using spyware in investigations
Canadians are justifiably outraged that it appears the United States authorities are using extrajudicial means of catching and deporting residents. They are abandoning the rule of law, some say. Can Canadians be so sanctimonious when we may be responsible for similar acts?
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July 28, 2025
Advice from the beyond: You CAN take it with you
Let’s say you are a moderately successful lawyer and have spent a few decades toiling in the trenches and building up a respectable client base.
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July 25, 2025
SCC gives its first interpretation of ‘unfit to stand trial’ and capacity to ‘conduct a defence’
The Supreme Court of Canada has 9-0 provided its first interpretation of the decades-old definition of “unfit to stand trial” contained in Criminal Code s. 2, shedding light on the considerations and standard for assessing whether an accused has the requisite capacity to “conduct a defence.” On July 25, 2025, the top court dismissed 6-3 an appeal brought by an Ontario man convicted of first-degree murder, who argued he was unfit to stand trial and who also moved to introduce fresh evidence on appeal to show that he was not criminally responsible at the time of the killing: R. v. Bharwani, 2025 SCC 26.
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July 25, 2025
David Zhang joins BMKP Law
Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP (BMKP Law) has shared that David Zhang has joined the firm as an associate.
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July 25, 2025
Defendants’ production of records saves $108M claim from dismissal for long delay
The Alberta Court of King’s Bench has ruled that the production of documents previously listed in an affidavit of records can significantly advance litigation, overturning the dismissal of a $108-million claim for long delay.
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July 25, 2025
Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal allows third party in 10-year oilfield services dispute
The Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal has breathed new life into a complex legal battle that has been mired in the pleadings stage for over a decade, ruling that St. John’s-based TechnipFMC Canada Ltd. can be added as a third party to a lawsuit between diving contractor James Hynes and Mount Pearl, N.L.-based Professional Diving Contractors Limited, which does business as Pro-Dive Marine Services.
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July 25, 2025
Court allows leave to appeal in demolition case for reasonable apprehension of bias
The British Columbia Court of Appeal has allowed leave to appeal in a case where the District of West Vancouver made an order to demolish a house, finding that the lower court judge once acted as counsel for the district in the same matter.
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July 25, 2025
Appeal dismissed despite trial judge’s concession error
In Insurance Corporation of British Columbia v. Dhaliwal, 2025 BCCA 142, the British Columbia Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal brought by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia and two individual defendants challenging a trial award of damages to the plaintiff, Balbir Dhaliwal, arising from two motor vehicle accidents.