A Window on Westmount Ville Marie

[U.S. Supreme Court]

Tuesday Sep 6, 2005 nyt A Court Choice Well Schooled in Chief Justice Job's Pitfalls
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
As a Supreme Court law clerk more than two decades ago, John G. Roberts Jr. learned how not to be chief justice.

John Roberts's Rapid Ascension
The Bush administration must hand over all documents Mr. Roberts prepared for prior administrations so that the Senate can make an informed decision.

find on WN 150 Supreme Court wn pages 2008 28 August 2008Judging judges As a parliamentary committee examines potential replacements for retiring Justice Michel Bastarache, the debate has been revived as to how judges should be appointed. Monday 19 May 2008 U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Law Aimed at Child Pornography The 7-2 ruling scathingly rejected contentions that a 2003 federal pornography law was so broadly written as to violate First Amendment rights. Saturday May 17, 2008 Top court snubs Tory youth crime agenda A key component of the Harper government's law-and-order agenda - to impose adult sentences on violent... OTTAWA: HIGH COURT RULES ON YOUNG OFFENDERS The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that it is up to prosecutors to prove that young offenders deserve an adult sentence. The court says that young offenders should not automatically be considered as adults under the law. The decision reverses a provision in the Youth Criminal Justice Act that forced young offenders to convince the court that they should not be sentenced as adult. Since 2002, Canadians between 14 and 17 accused of murder or other serious crimes have been sentenced as adults unless they convince the court they should be treated as children. Quebec rights commission delighted by high court ruling Sylvie Godin, vice-chairperson of Quebec's Commission des droits de la personne et de la jeunesse, said... Thursday 10 April 2008 OTTAWA: HIGH COURT JUSTICE DEPARTS One of the nine justices of Canada's Supreme Court is taking early retirement. Michel Bastarache served on the nation's highest court for more than a decade. He gave no reason for stepping down. Mr. Bastarache is 61. Supreme Court justices may serve until age 75. His successor will have to undergo parliamentary hearings for prospective Supreme Court judges under a procedure that Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced in 2006. OTTAWA: NEWCOMERS HAVE MORE TROUBLE FINDING JOBS A study by Statistics Canada says new immigrants to the country are having a tougher time than in previous years to find steady work. The government agency says those who have recently arrived in Canada typically go through an adjustment period, including periods of unemployment and working at part-time or temporary jobs before finding a permanent job, with the accompanying dramatic fluctuations in salary. The study shows that fluctuations in earnings of new immigrants were more pronounced between l998 and 2000 than between l980 and l982. It was also found that younger immigrants, who previously had an easier time finding steady work, are starting to encounter the same difficulties as their older counterparts. By the late 1990s, earnings instability for immigrants in their 20s was similar to levels seen among those in their 30s and 40s. The birthplace of immigrants, who are increasingly arriving from China, Southern Asia and Latin America, seems to have had a stronger impact on earnings inequality than other factors considered in the study. Thursday 10 January 2008 nsnbc U.S. Supreme Court on voter ID 1:14 2007 Antonio Lamer Former chief justice Antonio Lamer's legacy heralded Former Supreme Court chief justice Antonio Lamer will be remembered as a defender of judicial independence... Former Supreme Court chief justice Antonio Lamer will be remembered as a defender of judicial independence and of the rights of the accused, as well as one of the judges most influential in determining how the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms would affect the application of law. Lamer died early Saturday in Ottawa after several weeks of declining health. He was 74. Lamer was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1980. In 1990 he was named chief justice, serving until his retirement in 2000. more | CTV | goog OTTAWA: FORMER CHIEF JUSTICE DIES PEACEFULLY A former chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Antonio Lamer, has died at age 74. Mr. Lamer sat for nearly 20 years on the high court and spent a decade as chief of the nine-member bench. He was renowned as an authority on criminal law. Mr. Lamer had been in and out of hospital several times in recent years suffering from recurring heart problems. He died in the overnight hours between Friday and Saturday. Mr. Lamer was one of the youngest judges ever to sit on the Supreme Court when he was appointed at age 47 by Liberal Party Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1969. He was elevated to chief justice by Conservative Party Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1990. During his years on the high court Mr. Lamer authored a series of landmark Charter of Rights rulings and presided over the historic 1998 Quebec secession reference, which he once termed the most important case he ever heard. | montrealgazette Sunday 23 September 2007 VANCOUVER: PROVINCIAL SUPREME COURT JUSTICE IS DEAD A former British Columbia Supreme Court Justice, Dermod Owen-Flood, has died at the age of 76. He'd served as a Supreme Court trial judge from 1990 until last year, when he reached the mandatory retirement age for Canadian judges. He first practised law in the province of Alberta after arriving from Ireland with a law degree in the mid-1950s. Thursday 09 August 2007 A FLAWED AND ‘SUICIDAL’ JUSTICE SYSTEM The Post leads and the Citizen goes inside with “straight-shooting” Justice John Gomery’s criticism of Canada’s legal system, who has declared that the “cost of engaging a lawyer has to be examined.” Justice Gomery, who retires today at the age of seventy-five, told CanWest News Service that Canada’s justice system is on a “suicidal” path that cannot be reversed until lawyers cut their fees and governments increase funding for legal aid. Gomery called the rising costs of legal services an “alarming trend” which has put the justice system out of reach for most Canadians. He stressed that “it is not just the poor; it’s the great middle class” who must resort to representing themselves in court because they cannot afford legal fees. Canadian Lawyer magazine has the most recent national figures on lawyer’s fees, giving the average hourly rate for a lawyer with ten years of experience at $170 to $260, depending on the region. The Supreme Court of Canada’s Chief Justice, Beverley McLachlin, has said lawyers have a “crucial role to play” to make the justice system more accessible, but leaves it to the bar to find an appropriate solution. CanWest’s article adds that several provinces have unsuccessfully lobbied Ottawa to increase federal contributions to legal aid, and that the Canadian Bar Association has been locked in a legal challenge against the federal government, claiming that legal aid is a constitutional right. Sunday 15 July 2007 rci OTTAWA: CONSUMERS LOSE IN COMPUTER CASE The Supreme Court of Canada has dashed the hopes of a group of Canadian consumers by denying them the right to launch a class action lawsuit against the Dell Computer Corporation. They wanted the company to honour the incorrect low price for a product that had been advertised on-line. A lower court agreed with the plaintiffs' argument that the terms and conditions of the sale, which included an arbitration process for any price disputes, were not made obvious. But the country's highest court disagreed, noting that a hyperlink at the bottom of Dell's web page was "consistent with industry standards", and included a notice in bold print urging consumers to read the document. The judges also concluded that those engaged in e-commerce can be assumed to have a certain level of computer competence. rci Sunday 10 June 2007 OTTAWA: HIGH COURT UPHOLDS COLLECTIVE BARGAINING The Supreme Court of Canada has overturned lower court rulings in British Columbia and found in favour of health-care labour unions in a case involving the right to collective bargaining. The ruling says that that right is protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The high court upheld the arguments of a group of unions that a provincial law of 2002 which erased portions of their contracts violated the Charter by interfering with the right to collective bargaining. The law allowed for contracting-out of non-clinical services, relaxed layoff provisions, cut benefits for laid-off workers and forbade unions to try to renegotiate certain clauses in future contracts. The Supreme Court overturned lower court decisions that collective bargaining isn't under Charter protection. 8 June rci OTTAWA: RIGHTS CHARTER INAPPLICABLE ABROAD The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled unanimously that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms doesn't apply outside the country. The high court found that the conviction of Ontario resident Richard Hape for money laundering and his subsequent 30-month sentence stands because the RCMP didn't violate the law by raiding an office in Turks and Caicos while co-operating with local police. The Supreme Court ruled that the raid was legal under local laws which in Mr. Hape's case took precedence over the Charter. However, the court also noted that there could be an exception if investigative activities legal under local law brought Canada into conflict with its international obligations concerning human rights. Amnesty International and the B.C. Civil Liberation Association have asked Federal Court of Canada for an injunction to prevent Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan from handing over prisoners to the Afghan authorities without guarantees that they won't be tortured. rci Monday 28 May 2007 OTTAWA: HIGH COURT TO HEAR JOB FUND CASE The Supreme Court of Canada has agreed to hear a case concerning the federal government's use of surpluses from the employment insurance fund for general spending purposes. The case has been brought by la Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux, a labour federation in Quebec, which contends that it's illegal for the government to use the surpluses as a usual form of revenue as though they were equivalent to taxes raised for general purposes. The federal government has engaged in the practice since 1996. The CSN lost its case in Quebec Superior Court in 2003 and again in Quebec Appeals Court in 2003. Saturday 19 May 2007 SCOC ponders drunkenness as defence for murder The Supreme Court of Canada reserved judgment Friday after hearing arguments over whether a father of two young boys is entitled to a new trial for killing his wife because the jury was not properly instructed about the rare defence of extreme intoxication. ...The Criminal Code permits a drunkenness defence for murder if the killer is too drunk to form intent and may not have foreseen that his actions would cause the victim's death. The defence is rarely successful. PM 'muzzling judges' Ex-Supreme. Harper's trying to interfere with sentencing process, Antonio Lamer says JANICE TIBBETTS, CanWest News Service Published: Monday, February 19, 2007 Former chief justice Antonio Lamer says Prime Minister Stephen Harper is =trying to interfere with the sentencing process. Prime Minister Stephen Harper is trying to "muzzle" the judiciary by baldly acknowledging he wants judges who are tough on crime, the former chief justice of Canada says. Antonio Lamer said in an interview he sympathizes with the Harper government's complaints that some judges hand out soft sentences but the prime minister shouldn't be trying to influence the judiciary just because he's frustrated his justice bills are not passing in the minority Parliament. "I must say I was taken aback," Lamer said of Harper's blunt assertion last week in the House of Commons that he wants judges who will enforce his government's law-and-order agenda. "The prime minister is going the wrong route as regards the independence of the judiciary. He's trying to interfere with the sentencing process." Lamer sat on the Supreme Court of Canada for 20 years, spending his last decade as chief justice before he retired in 2000 at age 66. During his later years on the court, he was part of a voting bloc that tended to side with the accused in criminal cases, earning him a reputation for being soft on crime. But in an interview in his Ottawa apartment, Lamer said he thinks some judges these days are too lenient and some prisoners, such as drug traffickers, are eligible for parole too early. "I will candidly say I have been looking at some sentences and I have found they are not what they should be. They should be more severe," Lamer said. "These words coming from me might surprise some people, but I mean them." To that end, Lamer said, he agrees with some of the Harper government's tough-on-crime initiatives. But the prime minister's assessment of what he wants in the federal judiciary flies in the face of judges' duty to be impartial, guard against wrongful convictions and hand out sentences as they see fit, the former chief justice said. "On some points, I agree with him, but he's doing it the wrong way," Lamer said. "If he wants to interfere with the sentencing process, he can legislate, but he's having a hard time legislating in a minority government - his bills are not getting through." Lamer also denounced the much-criticized system of appointing judges to the 1,100-member federal bench, saying the process is "flawed" and there is no good reason that either police or community members should be involved in selecting judges. Under the existing system, eight-member volunteer panels in each province screen applicants to the provincial superior courts, appeal courts, the Federal Court, Federal Court of Appeal and Tax Court of Canada. Three members are chosen by the minister of justice from the community at large, and many of the Harper government's picks are political partisans. The Harper government recently added a member of the law enforcement community to each panel, sparking widespread condemnation from the legal community. Police, as a special interest group, should be excluded, and members of the public simply don't know enough about the job of judging to select candidates competently, Lamer said. "Mrs. Smith who is on the board doesn't know what the court is about. What she knows she probably got off American TV and thinks that judges use hammers." Lamer said judges should be screening judicial candidates seeking promotions and lawyers should be vetting other lawyers whOWN to sit on the bench because they are the ones who know what the job is about. "If I were on a selection committee to pick the head of neurosurgery, I wouldn't know anything," he said, by way of comparison. The selection committees determine whether a candidate is recommended or not recommended, and the minister of justice has the final say. There are also representatives on each committee from the judiciary, the legal community and the provincial attorneys-general. Another flaw is the secrecy of the selection process, Lamer said. Committee members cannot ask around about the suitability of a particular candidate, so the committees are deprived of a full picture of the applicants they select. The Harper government has recently come under fire for naming more than a dozen partisans to the committees, including a Cape Breton firefighter. The Liberals, while in power, also appointed partisan committee members. Lamer said he takes no issue with the partisan nature of the appointments as much as he does with the fact they are not from the legal community. "Why not have lawyers and judges on the panels picking the chief of the firefighters?" he asked. © The Gazette (Montreal) 2007 2006 Monday, July 03, 2006 Roberts Is at Court's Helm, but He Isn't Yet in Control As the dust settled on a consequential Supreme Court term, the question remained whether it was now the Roberts court. The answer: not yet. Thursday Jun 15, 2006 rci The Supreme Court of Canada will begin hearings on Tuesday on the constitutionality of "security certificates," a procedure which enables the federal authorities to jail non-Canadian security suspects indefinitely pending their deportation. The "certificates" are issued on the basis of secret testimony presented to a court by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service. The procedure was passed into legislation after the Sept. 11 attacks. Five such certificates have been issued since then. Three of the suspects are challenging the legality of the "certificates" as a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Two of the suspects have been freed on bail under strict conditions. Friday May 19, 2006 rci OTTAWA: HIGH COURT MULLS LITIGATION INVOLVING GAYS The seven judges sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada have taken under advisement a case involving eligibility for the Canada Pension Plan for the survivors of homosexual couples. The case involves five homosexual plaintiffs who argue that they have a right to pension payments. In 2000, the federal government passed a law saying that such survivors were eligible if they spouses died after Jan. 1, 1998. The plaintiffs' lawyers argue that such a restriction is a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The government's lawyers told the high court, however, that such retroactive payments would cost $80 million and could open the way for even more costly payments for social programs. The court hasn't set a date for the result of its deliberations. Sunday May 7, 2006 rci OTTAWA: PARTY HOSTS NOT BROTHER'S KEEPERS Canada's top court has ruled that the hosts of private house parties are not responsible for the actions of their drunken guests once they leave the premises. The Supreme Court of Canada ruling eliminates the claim for a large liability award by a woman who became a paraplegic as a result of a car accident caused by a drunk driver early on the morning of Jan.1, 1999. Zoe Childs, who was 18 years old at the time, sued for $6 million in damages from the drunk driver and from the hosts of the New Year's Eve party he had just left. The key legal issue at stake was whether private citizens who serve alcohol at their home parties are bound by the same rules as commercial establishments. Host not liable for drunk guests Party hosts, except in very rare circumstances, are off the hook for carnage caused by drunken guests on the highways. Tonda MacCharles has the full story. January 31, 2006 nyt Alito Is Sworn In as Justice After 58-42 Vote to Confirm Him The vote is a triumph for President Bush and conservatives who have longed to tilt the balance of the court to the right. Wednesday Jan 11, 2006 nyt Judge Alito Proves a Powerful Match for Senate Questioners By ADAM LIPTAK and ADAM NAGOURNEY For the most part, the Supreme Court nominee left his questioners shuffling through papers in search of the next question. Fairness in the Alito Hearings The biggest concern in Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr.'s confirmation proceedings is not whether they will be fair to him, but whether they will be fair to the American people. 2005 December 31, 2005 nyt So, Guy Walks Up to the Bar, and Scalia Says... By ADAM LIPTAK Justice Antonin Scalia is, a new study concludes, 19 times as funny as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Wednesday Nov 16, 2005 MEI A made-in-Canada prescription - Duplicate insurance likely in a fully parallel private health sector Last May, a Supreme Court ruling struck down two articles of Quebec laws forbidding patients from buying private insurance or paying directly for publicly insured health care treatments. What form could this new health insurance take without violating the Canada Health Act? Article (anglais) de Valentin Petkantchin, directeur de la recherche à l'IEDM, publié le 10 novembre dans le National Post. Thursday Nov 3, 2005 ts Bush signals his inability to change The nomination of Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court raises a lot of questions about the judge's attitudes toward federalism, privacy and civil rights. But it has already answered one big question about President George Bush. Anyone wondering whether the almost endless setbacks and embarrassments the White House has suffered over the last year would cause Bush to fix his style of governing should realize that the answer is: No. Monday Oct 31, 2005 Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr President Bush today named Samuel A. Alito Jr., an Ivy League-educated federal appeals court judge with a conservative record on abortion and a history of prosecuting organized crime, to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court. Mr. Bush's announcement, only four days after his initial choice, Harriet E. Miers, withdrew under scathing attacks from conservatives, was immediately celebrated by the right and condemned by the left. The confirmation fight that both sides have wanted for years appeared inevitable. more Thursday Oct 20, 2005 nyt Miers Is Asked to Redo Reply to Questions By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK The leaders of a bipartisan Senate panel called Harriet E. Miers's answers "inadequate," "insufficient" and "insulting. The Trouble With Harriet If Harriet Miers wants to convince the American people that she belongs on the Supreme Court, she needs to make a much better case for herself than she has so far. WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 (Iraq News Agency) - A delegation of Iraqi judges and journalists abruptly left the U.S. today, cutting short its visit to study the workings of American democracy. A delegation spokesman said the Iraqis were "bewildered" by some of the behavior of the Bush administration and felt it was best to limit their exposure to the U.S. system at this time, when Iraq is taking its first baby steps toward democracy. The lead Iraqi delegate, Muhammad Mithaqi, a noted secular Sunni judge who had recently survived an assassination attempt by Islamist radicals, said that he was stunned when he heard President Bush telling Republicans that one reason they should support Harriet Miers for the U.S. Supreme Court was because of "her religion." She is described as a devout evangelical Christian. Tom Friedman in today's NYT Thursday Oct 6, 2005 nyt New Questions From the Right on Court Pick By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK A growing chorus of conservatives expressed worry about Harriet E. Miers's conservatism and legal credentials. Wednesday Sep 21, 2005 nyt Top Democrat Says He'll Vote No on Roberts Harry Reid of Nevada said Tuesday that he would oppose the confirmation of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice. Tuesday Sep 20, 2005 nyt Penguin Family Values It may be fun to find a moral lesson in the documentary "March of the Penguins," but anthropomorphism, like after-shave, is best used sparingly. The Supreme Court's Private Life By ROBERT P. GEORGE Will Judge John G. Roberts, too, see rights where the framers did not? Tuesday Sep 20, 2005 nyt Too Much of a Mystery Chief justice of the United States is too important a position to entrust to an enigma, which is what Judge John G. Roberts remains. Tuesday Apr 12, 2005 np Top court to weigh school ban on kirpan Quebec case could set precedent on whether to allow wearing of dagger Wednesday Apr 13, 2005 Supreme Court to hear kirpan case A Sikh student who wasn't allowed to wear a ceremonial dagger in a Montreal public school takes his case to Canada's highest court Tuesday. Wednesday Oct 6, 2004 ts`Principle` will survive court scrutiny: Cotler OTTAWA—Justice Minister Irwin Cotler says the bill to legalize gay marriage that the Supreme Court of Canada examines today may look different when it goes to Parliament but it will be "similar in principle." Tuesday Oct 5, 2004 ts `They. Are. Women.` OTTAWA—It`s not the way it was written in the chief justice`s speech welcoming judges Rosalie Abella and Louise Charron to the Supreme Court of Canada. Thursday Aug 26, 2004 ts Cotler defends nominees OTTAWA—Justice Minister Irwin Cotler says a parliamentary committee is not a "rubber-stamp" but that nothing short of "clear authoritative evidence" of unworthiness could disqualify his two nominees for the Supreme Court of Canada. Tuesday Jul 13, 2004 OTTAWA: MARTIN SHAVING BENCH APPOINTMENTS CLOSE Prime Minister Paul Martin will fill two vacancies on the Supreme Court of Canada in time for the fall term. Government officials say he'll give MPs a role in the nomination process, but it isn't clear if that will include public questioning of the candidates. Mr. Martin is shaving the deadline for decision very close. There won't be much time for the new judges to prepare for an autumn sitting that begins the first week of October. Scott Reid, a spokesman for Mr. Martin, says the prime minister's office will spend the summer identifying candidates. The selection of judges for the Supreme Court has been the sole responsibility of the prime minister since the court was created in 1875. Mr. Martin promised before taking office to reform the process and give MPs of all parties a say in it. Since he took office, two judges -- Louise Arbour and Frank Iacobucci -- have unexpectedly stepped down. That leaves the court with just seven members. Tuesday Jun 8, 2004 cbc SUPREME COURT JUSTICE ARBOUR STEPS DOWN The Supreme Court of Canada said goodbye one of its best-known justices Arbour will take up a new job as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights at the end of the month. A justice of the Supreme Court of Canada will leave the high court at the end of the month to become the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The world body had announced the nomination of Louise Arbour in February but she said she didn't want to announce formally her departure from the Supreme Court until the UN General Assembly had ratified it. Before being named to the court, Mrs. Arbour had been the top prosecutor for three years at the UN's International Penal Tribunal for war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Thursday May 20, 2004 OTTAWA: FORMER HIGH COURT JUDGE HOSPITALIZED A former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada is in intensive care in a hospital in Ottawa after suffering a heart attack. Antonio Lamer was named to the high court in 1980 and was its chief justice for 10 years until he retired three years ago. He is at present the federal Commissioner of the Centre for Security and Telecommunications. Mr. Justice Lamer also presided over a inquiry into the justice system of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was supposed to resume next week but has now been postponed until the fall. 2003 Friday Oct 17, 2003 cbc SUPREME COURT WELCOMES NEWEST MEMBER Family, friends and colleagues watched as the Supreme Court of Canada welcomed its newest judge, Morris Fish, to the bench. The ceremony opened with a greeting from Queen Elizabeth, what Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin called the only serious part of the ceremony. It's real purpose was to give Fish the opportunity to wear the court's ceremonial red and white robe, she said. Thursday Oct 2, 2003 cbc LAMER REJECTS CALL TO QUIT INQUIRY An inquiry into wrongful convictions in Newfoundland and Labrador will continue after Antonio Lamer rejected a call to step down. Friday Aug 1, 2003 ts Quebec's appeal court Judge Morris Fish, shown in this undated file photo, was named to fill a vacant seat on the Supreme Court July 31 Quebec anglophone Fish to get court post OTTAWA - Morris Fish (64), an anglophone Jewish Quebecer, a tough former defence lawyer and a judge of his province's court of appeal, is the newest member of the Supreme Court of Canada. Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin welcomed the appointment, saying she's pleased the court will be able to start its fall schedule with a full bench. "Justice Fish is a remarkable judge," she said. "His experience and expertise will undoubtedly be a great asset." Simon Potter, president of the Canadian Bar Association, said Fish is a very good choice who is well-spoken of by his peers and the legal community. Sunday Aug 11, 2002 OTTAWA: QUEBEC JUDGE NAMED TO HIGH COURT A judge from the Canadian province of Quebec has been named to serve as one of the nine justices sitting on the Supreme Court of Canada. Marie Deschamps will replace another justice from that province, Claire l'Heureux-Dubé, who retired last month after sitting on the high court for 15 years. Justice Deschamps has served on Quebec's Appeal Court for the past 10 years. She says she's pleased with her appointment because the Supreme Court is the forum for discussion of Canada's most important legal and social questions. Click forThe Right Honourable Antonio Lamer, B.A., LL.L., LL.D. Saturday 14 April 2001 Lamer rebukes 'yelping' Alliance by Janice Tibbetts The Ottawa Citizen Retired chief justice attacks legislators over ignorance of law, 'half-cocked' comments Judge-bashing Alliance MPs need legal crash course: retired justice. Judge-bashing MPs put on notice www.ottawacitizen.com/national/010414/5007708.html September 5, 2000 Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin leads the nine-member court Supreme Court's caseload tends toward the technical Fewer politically charged hearings on fall agenda Luiza Chwialkowska ... OTTAWA - The Supreme Court of Canada will spend the fall probing intricate questions of criminal law, including jury selection, juror secrecy, and rules of evidence, while largely skirting the controversial areas of public policy that comprised much of its work over the past year. RELATED SITES: (Each link opens a new window) The Supreme Court of Canada Canada's top court on the Web. Jurist Canada The leading judicial website. Supreme Court decisions Link to the decisions once they're handed down. August 22, 2000 Supreme Court Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé Supreme Court Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé ..urged the media to focus on a ruling rather than its author because decisions are almost never the creation of any one judge. Last year, the Quebec judge was publicly blamed for being responsible for the high rate of suicide in her home province by an Alberta judge, who denounced her for being anti-men. She never publicly commented on how the attack affected her. "Courage is a big quality and I hope that every judge in this country has courage, but there may be some who would like to be popular and not offend in too many ways and things like that so these personal attacks tell these judges: Don't go out and tell what really you should say, but shut up." Me Simon Potter's tobacco case "When Money Meets Politics " Publication Date: April 10, 2000 Summary: The corrosive influence of money on the democratic system is the subject of a new book by Aaron Freeman, 30, a founding director of Democracy Watch, an Ottawa-based advocacy group. In this excerpt from Cashing In, he looks at one of the most potent and best-financed lobbies in the capital, the "Tobacco Dream Team." These tobacco lobbyists have had considerable success in the fight to protect their business from lawsuits and antismoking laws. Although the percentage of Canadians who smoke has been declining for a decade, the industry's profits keep climbing -- to $1 billion a year. Tuesday 21 March 2000 Quebec's construction law was bound to end up in Supreme Court. This where our Julius Grey case yes Construction worker's union fight reaches supreme court Quebec law at issue: Ottawa man says compulsory membership is unfair Janice Tibbetts ...Compulsory union membership is "invasive, intrusive and unnecessary," Julius Grey, Mr. Gareau's lawyer, contends in a written court submission. "The objection to union membership can be anchored in profound moral, religious, or political convictions and it is implicit in Canadian law that such convictions are to be respected." NEWSWORLD COVERAGE: CLIP:   CBC Newsworld's Don Newman discusses the appointment with Ed Ratushny, a specialist in constitutional law at the University of Ottawa Wed Jan 12, 2000 First female Supreme Court chief justice appointed CBC Beverley McLachlin (56) has been appointed the new chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. She replaces Antonio Lamer who announced he was retiring in August. Justice Louis LeBel in office overlooking Old Quebec. Thursday 23 December 1999 LeBel fills Supreme Court vacancy Legal community hails surprise appointment UYEN VU ...appointed Justice Louis LeBel of the Quebec Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.. fills the vacancy left by Antonio Lamer ..."He's a committed follower of other people's teaching É and of precedent," said Simon Potterof the Montreal firm Ogilvy Renault. "It might be fair to expect that we would see fewer law-making judgments from Justice LeBel than you might from someone else." McGill University law professor Stephen Scott hailed LeBel's appointment. "No one wishes to have appointments on the basis of ethnic or linguistic background. On the other hand, I would say that it has been clear for several decades that political considerations have excluded English-speaking people, and that's disturbing." Lawyer Julius Grey applauded Ottawa's refusal to be governed by the English-French mix on the bench. "There was a time in the 1950s when the court of appeal was supposed to have a Catholic-Protestant balance. Thank God that's behind us. And in the future, English or French should be a totally irrelevant consideration." Grey said LeBel isn't afraid to adopt a minority point of view, as was illustrated in the case of former journalist Benoit Proulx who successfully sued Quebec for $1.6 million for his wrongful murder conviction in 1991. The court of appeal overturned that decision this year, with LeBel dissenting in favour of Proulx. The case is pending before the Supreme Court. "The thing about LeBel," Grey said, "is that he is very careful, with very long and detailed decisions. He has to be viewed as someone who looks at every possible precedent and who tries to reconcile them in a complete judgment." The Right Honourable Antonio Lamer, B.A., LL.L., LL.D. Wednesday 12 January 2000 Top court's UDI ruling holds: Dion Ex-chief Supreme Court justice Antonio Lamer's remark that it's not binding only technically correct, minister says DAVID GAMBLE . L'honorable Lamer devait rappeler aux juges municipaux que la Cour suprême a confirmé dans l'arrêt Lippé ([1991] 2R.C.S. 114) leur indépendance, malgré le fait que ces derniers aient à faire face à une situation délicate. Ils doivent ainsi composer avec l'exercice de la profession d'avocat et les obligations qu'elle comporte, conformément à la Loi sur le Barreau et au Code de déontologie des avocats. En même temps, ils doivent avoir, comme juge, une conduite qui assure leur indépendance judiciaire, leur impartialité et le respect de leur devoir de réserve. Le juge en chef notait qu'une telle situation est de nature à accroître le risque de conflits d'intérêt, d'écarts au devoir de réserve et d'atteintes à l'image de l'indépendance judiciaire et de l'impartialité. C'est ce qu'il a fait savoir en août dernier à Edmonton dans le cadre du congrès annuel de l'Association du Barreau canadien (ABC). « Après avoir entendu 1317 affaires en Cour suprême et écrit des motifs dans 345 d'entre elles, j'ai décidé de raccrocher ma toge au tout début du prochain millénaire », de dire l'honorable Antonio Lamer. « Au moment de ma nomination, je m'étais dit que je me retirerais une fois que je n'aurais plus le feu sacré, l'enthousiasme spirituel et intellectuel nécessaire pour entendre le genre de causes qui passent devant notre tribunal. Après la session à venir, je vais graduellement commencer à perdre ce niveau d'enthousiasme et de passion (...). » Antonio Lamer, the Chief Justice, says politicians duck divisive issues, leaving the Supreme Court to legislate in areas such as abortion and assisted suicide. But critics suggest the court regularly stomps on the will of a democratically constituted Parliament, leading many Canadians to wonder . . . Who runs Canada? The tug of war between Parliament and the Supreme Court is becoming thornier as judges become more openly political, observers contend Neil Seeman An emotional Antonio Lamer, 'it will be time for me to go.' Justice Lamer, an affable Montrealer , was appointed to the court in 1980 by then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Justice Lamer made legal history when he was appointed to the Quebec Superior Court when he was only 36 years old. He has been on the Supreme Court for almost 20 years and chief justice for nine years. He is legally entitled to stay at his $228,700-a-year post until he is 75, but he became eligible last year for his full yearly pension of $152,460. He noted he has heard 1,317 cases on the Supreme Court and has written 345 decisions, said he is not ashamed of any position he has ever taken. He also declined to pick a decision that he considered the most significant of his career. "I love all of them, but I'm the only one to love all of them," he laughed, saying he would let others decide his legacy. ..."I've been deprived of my full freedom of expression for 30 years and I'm anxious to recover it," he said .. he is "sex blind." Justice L'Heureux-Dube, the only Supreme Court justice who attended Justice Lamer's announcement, applauded her friend, saying his reforms on the top court have been remarkable. "Tony, the country is proud of you," she told a lunch meeting in a speech about the embattled judiciary. < Search within results? Copyright ©2000 Google Inc. - About - Search Tips CBC Search News: CBC N e w s   S e a r c h KEYWORDS:    FROM:   TO:

Please phone (514) 934-0023
Please e-mail us your interest.