Webb Barristers

10/06/2025

11/05/2022

Not actively using a Twitter account of my own, I'll repost this here - from The Canadian Bar Association / L'Association du Barreau canadien, Criminal Justice section:

"In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada in Gladue called the overrepresentation of Indigenous persons in the prison population “a crisis in the Canadian criminal justice system”. We are reminded yet again today, by the Sharma decision, that this crisis persists 23 years later.

We must do better. The CBA Criminal Justice section urges the Senate of Canada - Sénat du Canada to pass BillC-5, and quickly, to restore judges the discretion to impose a conditional sentence where appropriate.

With this discretion, Bill C-5 carries the hope of reducing the overincarceration of Indigenous persons. 23 years later."

Pinned TweetCBA Criminal Justice Section@CBA_CrimJustice·Oct 31Want to know about what the CBA Criminal Justice Section does? Check out our Submissions and Legislative Updates page to keep up to date. https://cba.org/Sections/Criminal-Justice/Submissions-and-Legislative-Updatespage…134Show this t...

10/04/2022

Virtual court options will remain essential, 2 Ontario chief justices say

The pandemic forced the court system to quickly adopt technology it had long resisted, such as facilitating remote hearings, and as society now resumes "in person," two Ontario chief justices say virtual options will remain essential for access to justice.

09/30/2022

A worthwhile read on this day of reflection - click on the article for links to external reports.

"When clients disclose that they are Indigenous, this implies a higher duty of care. You have a responsibility, for instance, to work in accordance with trauma-informed principles. (The Canadian Bar Association offers training and online resources on this topic.) “If you ask people about their lives,” says Rudin, “you must be prepared for what they might tell you.” Listen to clients’ stories fully and sympathetically, not just as a means of getting pertinent information but also as a means of honouring a complex human experience. Try to minimize the degree of re-traumatization, while acknowledging that some amount is inevitable. And exercise discretion. “What a client shares with a lawyer or a Gladue writer,” says Rudin, “is not necessarily what they would want to share in open court.” (The Gladue principles, originally outlined in a 1999 Supreme Court decision, now compel judges to consider how a defendant’s Indigenous background or experience of colonization might be a factor when it comes to parole, bail, sentencing and other court decisions. Gladue writers prepare a case-specific report, presented to a judge in advance of a hearing, to explain the Gladue factors at play.)

The profession has not yet taken Rudin’s advice. Survey data suggests that lawyers spend less time with Indigenous clients than with non-Indigenous clients. That disparity likely helps to explain why — according to a report from the Public Prosecution Service of Canada — Indigenous people are more likely than others to be wrongfully convicted, to enter false guilty pleas or to be left in pre-trial detention without a bail hearing. (No doubt, this culture of neglect also affects Indigenous clients seeking support in non-criminal matters.) If your client is Indigenous, therefore, you have a moral and ethical responsibility to be extra attentive, in part to compensate for the general lack of attentiveness that lawyers still show the Indigenous community."

Historically, the Canadian state has used the law to oppress and tyrannize Indigenous people

09/01/2022

Honoured to be serving this year as the Communications Officer for the Criminal Justice section of The Canadian Bar Association / L'Association du Barreau canadien. Looking forward to a great year ahead!

08/01/2022

Quoted in CBA National / National ABC on the SCC decision in Kirkpatrick (removal or refusal to wear a condom during s*x).

The Supreme Court of Canada has unanimously declared that refusal to wear a condom during s*x, or its removal, can vitiate that consent and be cause for a s*xual assault trial

06/22/2022

Today's the day! See you this afternoon for our webinar on "Women in Criminal Law", where we will learn tips and tricks on how to SUCCEED in our challenging profession. Reminder that winners of the book draw will be announced at the end of the panel.

This webinar will seek to address the inequities experienced by women working in criminal law on both sides of the bar, the high attrition rate of women working in criminal defence, reasons for attrition, and efforts that can be made to retain women in the defence bar, combatting unequal treatment i...

06/16/2022

Excited to be chairing this program next WEDNESDAY on Women in Criminal Law, with our fabulous line-up: the Honourable Justice Breese Davies, Mona Duckett, Isabel Schurman, and Lesley Pasquino. Open to anyone interested, and free for all Canadian Bar Association members. We will be taking questions from the audience, and registrants who attend the live webinar with us are eligible to win one of six copies of "Women in Criminal Justice: True Cases by and about Women and the Law". Click below for more details.

https://www.cbapd.org/details_en.aspx?id=na_NA22EDI03A

05/26/2022

Third time's the charm... After being delayed twice due to Covid (irony), our webinar on 11(b) in the time of Covid is *finally* proceeding tomorrow at noon ET, with our panelists:
- The Honourable Justice Nick Devlin, Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta
- Frank Addario, of Addario Law Group LLP
- Liliane Bantourakis, Crown counsel at British Columbia Prosecution Service
- Maude Payette, Crown counsel at Directeur Des Poursuites Criminelles Et Penales
Materials will be provided and we'll be taking questions from the registrants. This webinar will also be available on demand for those who cannot join us.
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This program will provide an update on the s. 11(b) Charter right to trial within a reasonable time and the many issues which have been resolved since the 2017 Jordan decision.

05/20/2022

Great wrap-up to our "Coffee in the Times of Covid" series at the Canadian Bar Association yesterday. Looking forward to take 2 on our upcoming webinar on section 11(b) "in the time of Covid" next WEDNESDAY, MAY 25th,with the Honourable Justice Elizabeth Hughes (Alta. C.A.), Frank Addario of Addario Law Group LLP, Crown counsel Liliane Bantourakis (BC), and Crown counsel Maude Payette (Quebec).

This program will provide an update on the s. 11(b) Charter right to trial within a reasonable time and the many issues which have been resolved since the 2017 Jordan decision.

05/18/2022

This Thursday is the last in our The Canadian Bar Association / L'Association du Barreau canadien "cohort" series in Coffee in the Times of Covid, "Practicing Criminal Law in 2022", presented by the Criminal Justice section. This week's topic is on "Knowing Your Limits". I've really enjoyed leading/facilitating with my colleagues Jacqueline Beckles, David Parry, and Her Honour Jayme Williams, and it's been great getting to hear from the group of young lawyers and students who stuck around with us over the past 8 weeks. I've also loved hearing perspectives and sharing stories from across the country as to how things have been working in people's respective provinces. Hoping that the CBA can continue this series post-Covid to maintain that sense of community and collegiality.

Coffee in the Times of COVID is a virtual gathering of small groups of young lawyers and/or law students around a topic of common interest, designed to facilitate social connection among the legal profession and give participants a chance to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on their personal and prof...

04/14/2022

Notice to the Profession, Parties, Public and the Media
Effective April 19, 2022

This Notice to the Profession, Parties, Public and the Media (“Notice”) applies to all proceedings in the Superior Court of Justice (“SCJ”). It consolidates and supersedes all previous Province-wide Provincial Notices but does not introduce new substantive provisions unless indicated below. All prior Provincial Notices have been archived in the section “Notices no longer in effect”.

This Provincial Notice is supplemented by Regional Notices. Counsel, parties, the public and the media should consult the Regional Notices for specific scheduling and Region-specific practices and protocols including the Region’s direction on how the Court’s Guidelines determining the mode of proceeding in Civil, Family & Criminal will be scheduled.

Notice to the Profession, Parties, Public and the Media Effective April 19, 2022 This Notice to the Profession, Parties, Public and the Media (“Notice”) applies to all proceedings in the Superior Court of Justice (“SCJ”). It consolidates and supersedes all previous Province-wide Provincial N...