In Guindon v. Canada, released today, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal of a tax lawyer acting as a tax adviser, Julie Guindon, for penalties imposed by the Minister of National Revenue for issuance of tax receipts containing false statements. Guindon argued she was entitled to procedural safeguards under s. 11 of the Canadian Charter…
At least once in your career, it is helpful to reflect seriously about the place where the Law Society sends lawyers found guilty of misconduct and worthy of disbarment. Call it your general deterrence inoculation. Whatever it means to be a lawyer, this is what it means no longer to be one. (la version française suit)
Twenty-five years from now, historians, criminologists and other observers of criminal law in Canada may very well look back to a 2005 lecture given by Justice Michael Moldaver (now of the Supreme Court of Canada), to the Criminal Lawyers Association. Will they ask, why did we not see the symptoms of a dying branch of our profession? (la version française suit) The important excerpt from the lecture, quoted at the opening of a comprehensive report by the Ontario courts on criminal procedure, pointed to a trial process spiraling out of control. He repeated his call to action in a 2006…
