On The Wire

Breaching Informant Privilege

I have been invited by Edmonton lawyers Aleksandra Simic and Alexandra Seaman to participate as one of their guests in their Advanced Evidence class at The University of Alberta, Faculty of Law, on March 31, 2016. The topic is informant privilege. This post consists of some notes I made and ...
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The Disclosure Rules: A Restatement

What are the basic principles of law that come into play when the Crown fails to provide disclosure before election or plea in docket court? In a case pending before the Provincial Court of Alberta at Edmonton my client refused to enter election for mode of trial on a charge ...
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Apple Wins New York Case

In my posts titled Apple And The 'All Writs Act' dated November 2, 2015, and Apple and 'Assistance Orders' in Canada dated November 8, 2015, I discussed an application before Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York, in In Re Order Requiring ...
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Apple v. FBI: The Court Record So Far

On February 16, 2016, the United States government brought an application before Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym, in the District Court for the Central District of California, for an order under the All Writs Act, 28 USC s 1651 requiring Apple Inc. to provide assistance to the FBI in the search ...
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Alberta Judge Nails One For Privacy

On January 22, 2016, Justice E.J. Simpson of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta released the reasons for judgment in R v Hoelscher, 2016 ABQB 44 holding that the seizure of historic text messages by the police requires a wiretap authorization under Part VI of the Criminal Code. I ...
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Protecting Privilege in Docket Court

The docket court in Canada functions as the initial case intake court that deals with a range of things including bail applications, the taking of elections and pleas, adjournment applications, disclosure issues, the initiation of state funded counsel applications, the scheduling of trial dates and the conduct of some sentence ...
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EU Court Rules Mass Surveillance Unlawful

On January 1, 2011, the government of Hungary established the Anti-Terrorism Task Force that is active in gathering secret intelligence. Under the National Security Act, the governing legislation, the task force engaged in secret house searches; surveillance with recording; opening of letters and parcels; and, recording of electronic and computerized ...
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Cell Tower Dumps Violated Right to Privacy

In an important privacy ruling Justice John R. Sproat of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently held that "tower dump" production orders requiring Rogers Communications and Telus Communications to hand over the personal information of about 43,000 customers to the police breached s. 8 of the Charter of Rights ...
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Speedy Trial Flatlined in Alberta

The right to trial within a reasonable time was found unconscious at the Law Courts Building in Edmonton, Alberta, on December 22, 2015. Neighbours on 97th Street were overheard speaking fondly of the maligned right that is a noisy member of the Charter of Rights community. One of the emergency medical ...
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Supreme Court Divided on Procedural Fairness Question

May a sentencing judge deviate from the range of sentence established by the courts for a particular offence? Is it open to a sentencing judge to consider the frequency of a particular crime in the community where the offence was committed? These were the broad questions considered by the Supreme ...
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