Archive
28 Jan

Web access to court files expanding

FeatureThe age of Internet access to court records has dawned in Canada. British Columbia is leading the way with online access to some 200,000 court documents and more to come, […]

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28 Jan

Holding court on the web

FeatureAnyone with Internet access could watch live video of the Ontario Court of Appeal hearing that exonerated Steven Truscott of a 1950s murder. Despite that initiative – not to mention a […]

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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

N.S. courts withdraw media accreditation plan

NewsNova Scotia’s courts have withdrawn a controversial plan to accredit journalists and mete out unspecified punishment to journalists deemed to have violated guidelines on access to hearings and documents. It […]

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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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9 Dec

Access court challenge

While everyone has a protected right to speak to government, including the right to request information, do citizens (including journalists) have a correlative Charter right to an answer from government? […]

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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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