Tricks, Trash And Privacy
- February 14, 2020
- Heather Ferg
Canadian constitutional law is replete with tricks and schemes conjured by the police to elicit incriminating statements, gain access to private information and seize physical evidence from unwitting targets. The police may passively surveil our daily activities or stage chance…
Fentanyl And The Public Interest
- January 30, 2020
- Clayton Rice, Q.C.
In a post to On The Wire titled Fentanyl Trafficking In Alberta dated March 30, 2019, I discussed the sentence of seven years imprisonment imposed on Patrick Felix by Justice Brian Burrows, in the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta,…
Under The Weight Of The State
- January 16, 2020
- Clayton Rice, Q.C.
On January 7, 2020, the Ontario Court of Appeal released two unanimous opinions involving serious violations of the Charter of Rights by the police. In one case, the court reversed convictions for child pornography offences and ordered a new trial….
Crooked House
- December 30, 2019
- Clayton Rice, Q.C.
On December 3, 2018, suppression orders were lifted on an Australian case that blew the lid off the justice system in Victoria. It was revealed that a criminal lawyer had acted as an informant providing information to the police about…
Bugs And Betrayers
- December 16, 2019
- Heather Ferg
Betrayal. An unsavoury, but persistent feature of human relations. Friends turn, confidants disclose, trusted allies deceive and forsake. When recruited by the police, betrayers may become informants. Their reports may be akin to schoolyard tattles or engage matters of life…