CBA Influence - Interventions

Last week, the Supreme Court of British Columbia granted an injunction temporarily exempting legal professionals from applying new mandatory disclosure rules of the Income Tax Act that expand the number of business transactions that must be reported to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

In a pair of companion rulings, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down a mandatory minimum sentencing provision as cruel and unusual punishment while upholding another one for robbery with a firearm.

On July 31, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada released decisions in two companion cases that are the latest development in the now decades-long debate over the reviewability of governments’ judicial compensation decisions.

Administrative law has been the subject of almost constant revision in Canada. One leading judge – and a gifted thinker in the field – once described administrative law as a “never-ending construction site” where one crew builds structures and a later one tears them down to build anew.

In December, the CBA appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada as an intervenor in a case involving judicial compensation – the third time it has appeared before the high court on this issue, arguing for the larger principle of judicial independence.

The Canadian Bar Association has taken an interest in Trinity Western University’s plan for a law school since the proposal first came before the Federation of Law Societies of Canada for approval in 2012.

The Supreme Court handed down a split decision in Groia on June 1, with the majority ruling that it was unreasonable for the Law Society’s appeal panel to find Joseph Groia’s conduct unreasonable.

The Federal Court of Appeal’s recent decision in IGGillis Holdings brings comfort and certainty to transactional and advisory lawyers working collaboratively in today's complex legal environment. While the case arose in the context of a tax audit, its teachings on privilege should reach all areas of practice.

Note: Eugene Meehan of Supreme Advocacy asked two of the people who were in the courtroom for the TWU appeal on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 to write about their thoughts and feelings about those two days.

The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the importance of solicitor-client and litigation privilege respectively – and also on the need for clear legislative language surrounding privilege – in two rulings brought down on Nov. 25.