A helpful new feature just launched on CanLII.org. Going forward, Ontario court decisions on CanLII will display artificial intelligence generated classification.
The AI feature uses machine learning technology to automatically generate practice area labels. The labels appear in grey at the bottom of a search result, underneath the italicized subject keywords:
The feature offers a quick way for users to determine under which practice area a case has been classified. The Ontario AI project is the second jurisdiction to receive this feature, after CanLII launched the feature for Saskatchewan case law last year.
The guide summarizes material on the sentencing of transgender and gender nonconforming offenders in the following topic areas:
Effect on moral blameworthiness and mitigation
Conditions of imprisonment
Placement in men’s or women’s prisons
The guide is especially timely given sentencing courts recognition of transgender identity as an important factor in imposing a proportionate sentence.
It is licensed under CC BY 4.0, meaning that it can be copied and distributed freely, in whole or in part, if the attribution to rangefindr.ca and the author is intact.
The guide also coincides with the activation of a new tag in Rangefindr: “Accused: Transgender/Gender non-conforming.” This tag allows users to easily find sentencing judgments in which the offender was transgender.
January 18, 2022 – Notice – Provincial Court of Manitoba RE: COVID-19 Suspension and Restriction of Hearings
“This Notice is further to the Notices issued December 23, 2021 and December 29, 2021. We continue to be concerned about the COVID-19 numbers and the Omicron variant. Given this, and in order to continue to balance the health and safety of court participants with providing meaningful access to justice, we will be extending the court closures set out in the above noted Notices up to and including February 25, 2022.”
“Please review the Notice of January 7, 2022, as a reminder on how to book remote appearances.”
The latest issues of these journals are out and available for members. PDF copies of these articles are available upon request following copyright fair use guidelines. Contact us at library@lawsociety.mb.ca for more information.
Education and Law Journal
Annual Review of Education Law 30 Educ. & L.J. 237
Manitoba Law Journal (also available on CanLII.org)
Preface & Issue Overview “Ultra Vires and Void:” an Executive Inquiry Takes on Manitoba’s Legislative Building Crisis (And Wins) 44 Man. L.J. 185 Tom Mitchell
Triaging and Mediating to Meet the Needs of Families under the Family Dispute Resolution (Pilot Project) Act of Manitoba 44 Man. L.J. 1 Stefanie Goldberg
Bad Law: Rethinking Justice for a Postcolonial Canada 44 Man. L.J. 299 Justice Gerald Jewers
A Deposit in a Pre-Incorporation Transaction Is Still a Deposit: A Comment on Benedetto v 2453912 Ontario Inc 44 Man. L.J. 225 Darcy L. MacPherson
High Time for Change: Combatting the Black Market for Cannabis in Canada 44 Man. L.J. 257 Nick Noonan
Readability in the Canadian Tax System 44 Man. L.J. 63 Colin Jackson
The Premier Should Not Also Be the Attorney General: Roncarelli v Duplessis Revisited as a Cautionary Tale in Legal Ethics and Professionalism 44 Man. L.J. 155 Andrew Flavelle Martin
The Duty of Legislative Counsel as Guardians of the Statute Book: Sui Generis or a Professional Duty of Lawyers? 44 Man. L.J. 116 Andrew Flavelle Martin
The Troubled History of the Defence of Duress and Excluded Offences: Could the Reasoned Use of Mitigation on Sentencing Prevent Duress from (Further) Becoming Archaic, Gendered, and Completely Inaccessible? 44 Man. L.J. 33 Frances E. Chapman, Georgette M. Lemieux
Fitness to Stand Trial and Dementia: Considering Changes to Assessment to Meet Demographic Need 44 Man. L.J. 177 Shauna Sawich, Hygiea Casiano
Fundamentally Flawed: The Arbitrariness of the Corporal Punishment Defence 44 Man. L.J. 87 Mark Carter
The Availability of the Common Law Defence of Duress to Principals Charged with Murder: An Analysis of the Conflicting Appellate Decisions in R v Willis (TAW) and R v Aravena 44 Man. L.J. 136 Robert H. Tanha
The Constitutionality of Excluding Duress as a Defence to Murder 44 Man. L.J. 111 Colton Fehr
The Slow Death of the Reasonable Steps Requirement for the Mistake of Age Defence 44 Man. L.J. 1 Isabel Grant
Shattered: The Historic and Continued Breaching of Indigenous Persons Right to Reasonable and Timely Bail 44 Man. L.J. 170 Sean Gallop
Blurred Lines: A Critical Examination of the Use of Police Officers and Police Employees as Expert Witnesses in Criminal Trials 44 Man. L.J. 48 Brandon Trask, Evan Podaima
January 14, 2022 – Notice to the Profession – Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench – Masters RE: COVID-19 Update
“The Notices issued by Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Masters on March 17, 2020, April 7, 2020, April 24, 2020, May 11, 2020, and September 1, 2020 are being updated with the changes noted below, which are to take effect immediately, and continue in place to at least March 4, 2022, or further notice of the court. These changes reflect the challenges related to the continuing and increasing threats associated with the COVID-19 virus and in particular, the alarming increase in the positivity rate within our communities. These changes will mirror those announced by the Chief Justice, Court of Queen’s Bench for the period of January 10 to March 4, 2022.
“Given the increasing rates of community transmission and potential impact on Manitoba’s healthcare system, we are cancelling all in-person hearings set to proceed during this period, or until further notice.”
The full text outlining the changes can be accessed here.
The Manitoba Law Library would like to acknowledge with gratitude that we are situated on Treaty One Territory, the traditional lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree and Dakota peoples, and the homeland of the Métis Nation.
Printing and Photocopying
If you need to use the library’s printing and photocopying services you will need to create an account. See us at the front desk for assistance.
Please note: The library will be closing early on Friday, December 13th at 11:00AM for a special event. Regular library service will resume Monday, December 16th at 8:30AM.