Overlawyered » Canada

International law roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 11 May 2012 12:41:52 +0000

U.N. rapporteur lectures U.S. on Indian rights, calls for “some form of land restoration” [IPSNews] “So, the UN Wants the U.S. to Return Land to Indian Tribes…” [Claudia Rosett] In Chapters 10 and 11 of Schools for Misrule, I discuss the growing cooperation between Indian land-claim activists in this country and international organizations both within and without of the U.N. system. (More: I expand theme into a Daily Caller piece).
“Union Uses NAFTA To Fight Alabama Immigration Law” [Sean Higgins, IBD]
“UN hunger expert investigates Canada” [Hillel Neuer, National Post]“Everyone’s grievances can thus be transformed into human rights violations” [Jacob Mchangama and Aaron Rhodes, Freedom Rights Project, PDF]
Admittedly, at a “lefty Quaker school in the Northeast”: “You know international law is getting some traction when your fourth-grader is being taught about the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” [Peter Spiro, OJ]
New Third Circuit opinion in remanded U.S. v. Bond case, which tested limits of treaty power, could tee up issue for another SCOTUS outing [Spiro/OJ, FedSoc Blog, Liberty and Law; earlier]
“Canada’s Much Better and Very Different Alien Tort Statute” [Ku/OJ]
Implementation of United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) could draw inspiration from U.S. experience with institutional reform lawsuits [Michael Perlin via Bagenstos]

Tags: alien, Canada, child, disabled rights, immigration law, Indian tribes, international human rights, international law

International law roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Unfair to persons with albinism?

Walter Olson — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:09:01 +0000

A Vancouver, B.C. resident with albinism (lack of skin pigmentation) has directed a complaint to a Canadian human rights tribunal against Earls Albino Rhino beer [Ann Althouse]

Tags: beer and brewers, Canada

Unfair to persons with albinism? is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Shortages of vital drugs hit Canada

Walter Olson — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:27:12 +0000

And, surprisingly or not, there’s a U.S. Food and Drug Administration angle. [Marni Soupcoff, National Post/FP] Earlier here, here, etc.

Tags: Canada, pharmaceuticals

Shortages of vital drugs hit Canada is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties

Walter Olson — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:50:55 +0000

A British Columbia court has allowed a suit to proceed arguing that a government lending program which included inspection of the property to be renovated could incur a duty to third persons who might later fall on a staircase whose faults allegedly would have been detected had inspection not been negligent. [Erik Magraken; Benoit v. Banfield]

Tags: Canada, mortgages, real estate, slip and fall

Canada: lender’s inspection may create liability to third parties is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Ontario: dad arrested after 4 year old draws picture of gun

Walter Olson — Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:07:13 +0000

The trouble began at school in Kitchener, Ontario, when a 4-year-old girl drew a picture of her father, Jessie Sansone, with a gun in his hand. When asked about the gun in the picture, according to police, the girl said her siblings played with it and that it scared her. “The school principal, police and child welfare officials… said they had to investigate to determine whether there was a gun in Sansone’s house that children had access to.” And apparently that “investigation” had to involve detaining and strip-searching Sansone when he showed up at school to pick up his daughter, searching his home, and spiriting away his other children to Family and Children’s Services to be interviewed. Sansone was told he was being charged with possession of a firearm — from the article’s context, an offense in itself in that Second-Amendment-less locality. When police searched the Sansone home, they found “a clear plastic toy gun that shoots soft plastic biodegradable BBs and retails for around $20 at Walmart” and he was released without charges. [The Record; Joe O'Connor, National Post]

Tags: Canada, child protection, guns

Ontario: dad arrested after 4 year old draws picture of gun is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 24 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:07:47 +0000

Melissa Kite, columnist with Britain’s Spectator, writes about her low-speed car crash and its aftermath [first, second, third, fourth]
NYT’s Nocera lauds Keystone pipeline, gets called “global warming denier” [NYTimes] More about foundations’ campaign to throttle Alberta tar sands [Coyote] Regulations mandating insurance “disclosures” provide another way for climate change activists to stir the pot [Insurance and Technology]
“Cop spends weeks to trick an 18-year-old into possession and sale of a gram of pot” [Frauenfelder, BB]
Federal Circuit model order, pilot program could show way to rein in patent e-discovery [Inside Counsel, Corporate Counsel] December Congressional hearing on discovery costs [Lawyers for Civil Justice]
Trial lawyer group working with Senate campaigns in North Dakota, Nevada, Wisconsin, Hawaii [Rob Port via LNL] President of Houston Trial Lawyers Association makes U.S. Senate bid [Chron]
Panel selection: “Jury strikes matter” [Ron Miller, Maryland Injury]
Law-world summaries/Seventeen syllables long/@legal_haiku (& for a similar treatment of high court cases, check out @SupremeHaiku)

Tags: Canada, climate change, discovery, environment, global warming, Hawaii, humor, illegal drugs, jury selection, low-speed auto collisions, Nevada, North Dakota, oil industry, patent litigation, politics, Senate, United Kingdom, Wisconsin

February 24 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 3 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:10:50 +0000

Judge blocks California budget cuts re: in-home services for disabled [Mercury News]
Media exploited her daughter for titillation, claims suit by mother of “Toddlers & Tiaras” star [Above the Law]
Narrower definition of autism ahead? [Althouse]
“Police Charge Canadian Blogger With Criminal Libel for Criticizing the Police” [Sullum, Popehat]
Prince George’s County, Maryland, wants to ban liquor deliveries; no harm linked to them, but you can’t be too sure [Ben Giles, Washington Examiner] Centers for Disease Control’s curious definition of “binge” drinking [Sullum]
The law of authors’ liability for inaccurate memoirs [Mark Fowler, Rights Of Writers; earlier here, etc.]
“Diagnosing Liability: The Legal History of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder” [Deirdre M. Smith, SSRN via TortsProf]

Tags: alcohol, autism, Canada, Maryland, publishers

February 3 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

When companies’ hot products are stolen

Walter Olson — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:44:10 +0000

Toronto lawyer Michael Deverett thinks a bad guy must have followed him home from the Apple Store; at least someone smashed his hatchback car window when he stepped away for a couple of minutes and made off with what he said was a well concealed bag of new electronics purchases worth C$2,200. The company — which gave him a store credit plus a small extra for legal fees — is also facing criticism from theft victims who say it should do more to help owners retrieve stolen cellphones. [Toronto Star](& welcome Elie Mystal, Above the Law readers)

Tags: Apple, Canada, cellphones, third party liability for crime

When companies’ hot products are stolen is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

January 23 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:51:41 +0000

Copyright violations on PIPA sponsors’ websites? [VICE] “A SOPA Analogy” [David Henderson]
DEA agent who mistakenly shot self loses appeal [BLT, earlier]
“And people say libertarians lack empathy”: AP adopts pre-emptively disapproving tone toward advances in pain control [Coyote; related, Alkon on Primatene Mist]
Cordray, NLRB recess picks allow President to reward key Democratic interest groups [Copland, Examiner] Litigation Lobby gunning for ban on consumer finance arbitration as Cordray priority [CL&P] Mike Rappaport on the recess appointment clause [LLL, earlier here, etc.]
Keystone’s just the half of it: US environmental funders push shutdown of Canada energy production [Vivian Krause, Financial Post]
Hot potato, or just hot business sector? “Credit Suisse Parts with Litigation Finance Group” [WSJ Law Blog]
Speaking of shoplifters in elected office [Harrisburg Patriot-News on Perry County, Pa. case h/t commenter A.A.; earlier on California case]

Tags: arbitration, Canada, copyright, litigation finance, pharmaceuticals

January 23 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Defense: Judge’s “Mr. Guilty” slip-up was prejudicial

Walter Olson — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:34:44 +0000

The defense says a new trial is warranted by an Ontario judge’s advice to jurors that the presumption of innocence “is only defeated if, and when, Crown counsel has satisfied you beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Guilty – I’m sorry, that Mr. Wilson – is guilty of the crime charged.” [Globe and Mail]

Tags: Canada, judges

Defense: Judge’s “Mr. Guilty” slip-up was prejudicial is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system