A Straightforward Murder Case
It is a common observation that there is no such thing as a short murder trial any longer. Not long ago there were murder trials that took just a few days. Causes of this dramatic increase in trial length abound: the time required to assess Charter issues; the volume and complexity of forensic evidence; the sheer abundance of evidence available through modern life. R. v. …
MLB Pitch Clock and Law
The introduction of a pitch clock and other changes sped up Major League Baseball this past season and to general approval, larger viewing audiences, and even most diehard traditionalists seem to be happy. When I published my report “Criminal Justice for the 21st Century” in 2012, I was characterised by one reporter as taking a “Moneyball approach to justice”. Anne Milgram in The Atlantic also …
Puritanical Timeliness – John Cooke
We wrote earlier about Thomas More, The Man for All Seasons, and famous for standing by his principles against Henry VIII to the point of being beheaded in 1535. In the 17th century the revolutionary John Cooke met a similar end: he was hung, drawn and quartered in 1660 by Charles II as a regicide for acting as Charles I’s prosecutor. Both saw and acted …
Outrageous Backlog in the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
Concerns for the backlogs in the Ontario justice system are becoming mainstream. According to Howard Levitt for the Financial Post, the backlog in small claims courts was “so outrageous that many lawyers were choosing to risk filing their claims in Superior Court — with serious adverse cost consequences — in order to have their matter heard on a more timely basis.”[1] Small claims court backlog …
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Fresh Fish for Sale!
When did the first fishmonger call out, “Fish for Sale! Fresh Off the Boat!” The obvious value of freshness is still captured by dockside sales and fish markets notable for the absence of smell—for truly fresh fish don’t smell fishy. In this example the ability to communicate the value of freshness is straightforward: an ad hoc cardboard sign by the roadside will do. Similar examples …
What You Gonna Do About Me?
Reba McEntire has a country-western song called “What You Gonna Do About Me?” It is one of the few popular songs which addresses divorce from the child’s perspective: one line asks “Is it Daddy on the weekend, Mama rest of the week? Will I have to make new friends, live on adifferent street?” Custody disputes can defy just resolution. They are often given a priority …
Former Rwandan Doctor Living in France Brought to Trial After Twenty-Eight Year Delay
After 28 years, 68-year-old Sosthene Munyemana, a former doctor in Rwanda now living in France, has finally been put on trial on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in the Rwandan genocide. In 1995, a complaint was filed in Bordeaux against Munyemana, one year after the genocide. He has been accused of organising torture and killings and almost 70 witnesses are expected to testify. …
Bankman-Fried Arrested and Tried in Eleven Months
In only eleven months, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been arrested, charged, and found guilty of all seven charges of fraud and conspiracy. FTX, a cryptocurrency empire, toppled last year due to a spike in withdrawals that exposed $8 billion missing. Bankman-Fried was accused by the prosecution for stealing $10 billion from FTX and moving it to his hedge-fund, Alameda Research. Between Bankman-Fried’s attempts at …
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Military Sexual Assault Case Stayed
Trevor Cadieu, a retired lieutenant-general for the Canadian Armed Forces has received a stay of proceedings regarding two sexual assault charges from 1994 by Kingston judge Larry O’Brien. Justice O’Brien found that, given the trial was expected to conclude by mid-February 2024, the case will have exceeded the 18-month Jordan ceiling by a month and a half. He laid the blame at the feet of …
The Bankman-Fried Fraud Case
The federal prosecution has just rested its case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt cryptocurrency FTX. He has plead “not guilty” to two charges of fraud and five charges of conspiracy. Three of his former colleagues have plead “guilty” and testified against Bankman-Fried. The prosecution alleges that Bankman-Fried misappropriated funds to his own hedge-fund, Alameda research. The position the defence seems to be …