Archive
23 Jul

CP fined for breaching ban

News The Canadian Press has been fined $4,000 for contempt of court for breaching a publication ban imposed at a British Columbia murder trial last year. The wire service circulated […]

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10 Jun

Lift shroud on bail hearings

CommentaryAs the Supreme Court of Canada prepares for this fall’s review of the publication ban on bail hearings, Law Times columnist Alan Shanoff argues the public is entitled to more […]

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2 Jun

Two bail ban appeals on Ottawa docket

Canada’s highest court has agreed to review conflicting Ontario and Alberta rulings on whether a publication ban should be routinely imposed on bail hearings. The Supreme Court agreed May 28 […]

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2 Apr

Ontario lifts court file restriction

NewsToronto (April 1, 2009) – The Ontario government has reversed a controversial policy that blocked access to court files in cases subject to a publication ban. Journalists objected to the […]

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27 Jan

Ontario ruling limits bail ban to jury cases

NewsOntario’s highest court has narrowly upheld the sweeping ban on publishing any information presented at a bail hearing, except in youth court cases and for minor offences not heard by […]

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11 Dec

What’s in a name? A lot

CommentaryPrime Minister Stephen Harper campaigned on a promise to lift the publication ban on the identities of young people convicted of serious violent offences. Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act […]

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11 Dec

Bail hearing ban reinstated

NewsAlberta’s Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that would have ended the practice of banning publication of evidence heard at bail hearings at the request of a defendant. A […]

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15 Jul

Ontario’s courts arguably most closed in country

News The Supreme Court of Canada has described open courts as a “core value” as central to the justice system as the presumption of innocence. Yet at the trial court […]

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15 Jul

Legal system erects barriers to open justice

CommentaryNo one disputes that open courts are a hallmark of a democratic society. But media lawyer Alan Shanoff, writing the June 14, 2008 edition of the Law Times, says it’s time […]

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17 Jun

Judge releases Bernardo video

Toronto (June 11, 2008) — An Ontario judge has released a videotape of a statement convicted murderer Paul Bernado gave to police in 2007 denying involvement in the murder of […]

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