Archive
22 Jun

Reviews mixed on Ontario court files access

NewsOntario journalists have compiled a second edition of The Justice Reporter, a newsletter that explores the openness of the province’s courts. Despite the attorney general’s decision in April to rescind […]

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11 Jun

Twitter in the courtroom

News Ottawa Citizen reporter Glen McGregor filed a steady stream of tweets from Ottawa mayor Larry O’Brien’s recent bribery trial. Kate Dubinski of the London Free Press did the same […]

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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

Journalists challenged to expose wrongful convictions

ByMelissa Wilson The media should tone down coverage that pressures police to solve crimes and devote more effort to reporting on trials and investigating cases that result in wrongful convictions, […]

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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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14 Apr

Ontario reverses block on access to court files

ByDean Jobb “The administration of justice thrives on exposure to light – and withers under a cloud of secrecy,” Justice Morris Fish of the Supreme Court of Canada wrote in […]

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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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3 Mar

Access to court files: law, reality miles apart

FeatureThere’s a growing chorus of complaint that access to key court documents — informations setting out criminal charges, exhibits tendered during trials, youth court dockets — has become increasingly restrictive […]

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18 Feb

Outdated rules block access to Ontario court records

ByDean Jobb In courthouses in Toronto, Woodstock, Kenora, Cornwall and countless other Ontario cities, journalists are routinely denied easy access to case files and exhibits based on outdated precedents and […]

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2 Feb

Newsletter tackles poor access to Ontario court files

NewsOntario journalists are being denied their right to view and copy basic court documents under questionable provincial access policies. In response, Tracey Tyler, the Toronto Star‘s legal affairs reporter, and […]

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