Pulse
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May 20, 2025
Prison food: Canada vs. Beijing
The BBC is reporting on the case of Matthew Radalj, an Australian citizen sentenced to five years (he claims wrongly) after being forced to sign a confession following his Jan. 2, 2020, arrest in Beijing. Radalj was confined in the Beijing No. 2 prison, a facility housing international inmates. He listed a variety of abuses to a BBC reporter, including severe physical punishment, forced labour, food deprivation and psychological torture.
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May 20, 2025
Demonstration bylaw: Neither liberty nor safety
Toronto’s Jewish community is lobbying city councillors to pass a bylaw that will ban protests near places of worship, schools or community centres. The “demonstration bylaw” is at the public consultation stage right now. Jewish leaders are asking for the bylaw to keep the community safe in the face of demonstrations in support of the Oct. 7 terrorist incursions into Israel, which are taking place on Toronto’s streets and in neighbourhoods where Jews primarily live.
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May 16, 2025
Federal Court extends deadlines for immigration JRs due to surging cases, inadequate gov’t funding
Contending with far too many immigration cases for its tight budget, the Federal Court this week extended by 45 days its regulation 30-day deadlines for litigants to perfect their applications for leave and judicial review of immigration decisions (ALJRs). Why? Because the registry’s beleaguered staff simply can’t keep up, and now often needs weeks rather than days to intake and process the ALJRs — which have more than quadrupled the average volume the court experienced over the five years immediately preceding the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
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May 16, 2025
Ontario case highlights human oversight function in generative AI which cannot be ignored: law prof
An Ontario judge has criticized a lawyer for the apparent use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in a factum which provided several incorrect case citations, and legal experts are saying the judge's admonishments highlight the need for human oversight of AI and increased attention to the guidance provided by law societies and courts on the use of the technology by legal professionals.
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May 16, 2025
Natasha Sanders joins McLennan Ross in Yellowknife
Associate lawyer Natasha Sanders has joined the Yellowkknife office of McLennan Ross as part of the firm's litigation and advisory practice .
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May 16, 2025
Karl Racine joins Smart & Biggar
The trademarks practice group at Smart & Biggar has been joined by associate Karl Racine.
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May 16, 2025
Court of Appeal: SOIRA exemption unlikely with shorter sentence
On Oct. 28, 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada declared the provisions of SOIRA (Sexual Offender Information Registry Act) unconstitutional (R. v. Ndhlovu, 2022 SCC 38). Section 1 of the Charter could not save the provisions.
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May 16, 2025
Rules of Civil Procedure as seen by the Oracle of Belleville
New Rules of Civil Procedure — ahem
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May 15, 2025
Ottawa welcomes ‘historic’ international ruling that Russia shot down Malaysian civilian airliner
As Canada pursues a separate case against Iran at the UN’s International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) — for the illegal downing of a Ukrainian civilian airliner in 2020 — Ottawa said it “welcomes” the ICAO’s recent determination that the Russian Federation shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, in breach of Russia’s obligations under international law.
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May 15, 2025
Civil rules reform based on blind data of personal injury litigation
In September 2023, Attorney General Doug Downey created the Civil Rules Review (CRR) with a mandate to identify issues and develop proposals for reforming the Rules of Civil Procedure to make civil court proceedings more efficient, affordable and accessible.