New from CanLII: AI generated subject classification for Ontario case law

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:

screen shot of CanLII search result that contains the AI generated label "Public Administration"

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.

Read more about the new Ontario project here.

Free Guide from Rangefindr: Sentencing Guide for Transgender Offenders

Rangefindr.caLegal research tool Rangefindr has recently released a free sentencing guide for transgender offenders.

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.

Members of the Law Society of Manitoba have access to Rangefindr’s criminal sentencing resources through the Member’s Portal.

Rangefindr.ca has other helpful publications available here.

New Notices: COVID-19 Update

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.”

Visit the Manitoba Courts website for all COVID related notices.

Journals Update

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)

Vol 44, no 3

  • 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

Vol 44, no 4

  • 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
  • Year in Review
    44 Man. L.J. 208 David Ireland

Vol 44, no 6

  • 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
  • Algorithmic Policing Technologies in Canada
    44 Man. L.J. 246 Shawn Singh
  • Predictive Policing and the Charter
    44 Man. L.J. 224 Kaitlyn Hiller
  • California Wrongful Incarceration Compensation Law: A History That Is Still Being Written
    44 Man. L.J. 194 Kelly Shea Delvac
  • Talking to Strangers: A Critical Analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada’s Decision in R v Mills
    44 Man. L.J. 108 Chelsey Buggie
  • Detained on Sight: The Socioeconomic Aspect of Social Context in R v Le
    44 Man. L.J. 138 Lewis Waring
  • Pungent Sound: Analyzing the Criminal Enforcement of Environmental Law in the Pacific Northwest
    44 Man. L.J. 76 Joshua Ozymy, Melissa Jarrell Ozymy
  • Wrongful Extradition: Reforming the Committal Phase of Canada’s Extradition Law
    44 Man. L.J. 1 Robert J. Currie

New Notices: COVID-19 Update

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.

Visit the Manitoba Courts website for all COVID related notices.

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.