I have written previously about the oft-cited principle that “justice delayed is justice denied”.  In my previous post, however, I wrote of a Judge tossing out 12 criminal cases when the prosecutor was less than one and a half minutes late for court.  A recent Appeal considered the impact of a lengthy delay not in conducting a trial but in a Judge releasing her written Reasons for Decision. In the recent case R v. Cunningham, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that a two year delay in releasing written reasons for decision was sufficiently lengthy and unreasonable as to require … Read the rest of this entry »

It is often noted that “justice delayed is justice denied”.  The passage of too much time can make it unreasonably difficult or impossible to conduct a fair trial.  The law provides defendants in criminal proceedings the right to have the chance to defend the charges against them without undue delay.  Civil actions can also be dismissed for delay, but the delay usually must be considerably longer than what the criminal courts will tolerate. Among the problems associated with delay are the fact that witnesses may die or may not be able to be located when the time of trial finally … Read the rest of this entry »

Individuals in Toronto, with concurrent family and criminal law matters, now have the option of having their issues managed by a single judge in Canada’s first-ever integrated domestic violence court. Lead by Justice Waldman, the court opened June 10, 2011 at Toronto’s 311 Jarvis St. courthouse, where it will undergo a two-year trial run as a pilot project. The court will deal with the same litigants and the same situations, but will no longer be two systems that operate independent and without cross-referencing one to the other. For example, currently many bail orders made in criminal court affect access arrangements … Read the rest of this entry »

When being interrogated by the police, it is best to say nothing other than to, perhaps, identify oneself (although whether one should even do that much has been subject to much debate).  If one does talk, one should expect his or her statement to be admissible in evidence at trial.  In some instances, this may even occur where one has requested, and been denied, the advice of legal counsel (despite the right, pursuant to section section 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,  upon arrest or detention to retain and instruct counsel without delay and to be informed of that right).   Speaking with counsel … Read the rest of this entry »

There are countless film, television and book plots (and some sad real-life cases) that revolve around greedy family members  arranging for the untimely death of a person from whom they want to receive an early inheritance.  Fortunately, the law of Ontario is perfectly clear that you will be barred from profiting from a death for which you are responsible. Canadian Courts have consistently enforced what is known as the Forefeiture Rule,  described in Theobald on Wills as follows: “A sane person who commits murder is debarred by public policy from taking any benefit under the will or intestacy of his victim. . . . The … Read the rest of this entry »