With the worldwide economic shutdown, dirty money is piling up with nowhere to go. During April, police agents made three significant seizures of more than $1 million in alleged drug proceeds. According to top drug officials, the reason for such large a large surplus of cash is directly related to COVID-19 - trade-based money laundering systems that many drug organizations use to repatriate and move money has slowed due to the shuttered economy.

Extraordinary times have called for extraordinary measures. A growing number of prisoners are being released from remand centers across the country while awaiting trial. Though courts have all but shut down, except for emergent matters, detainees who were otherwise not suitable candidates for bail are bringing successful bail applications due to the threat of COVID-19 in our jails and prisons.

Diaries or journals kept by a person are often subject to the statutory provisions contained in the third-party records section of the Criminal Code at s. 278.1. The definition of what is a third-party record should be held in circumstances in which the diary or journal has possible relevance to one of the proceedings set out in s. 278.2 of the Criminal Code.

Lori Laughlin and 13 other parents charged in the college admissions scandal have asked a judge to dismiss the bribery, fraud and money laundering charges. Lawyers are arguing that the federal prosecutors in Boston violated their client’s rights and broke long-held judicial rules by withholding for 16 months notes taken by the scam’s admitted ringleader, William “Rick” Singer.

We have been instructed by health officials and politicians that home is the safest place to be while the COVID-19 pandemic rages across the world. But for many, home is a place of violence and fear. Self-isolation forces victims of domestic violence and their children into a much more dangerous environment – being locked in a house with their abuser.

The Supreme Court of Canada recently found that excessive speeding, even momentarily, can be a departure from a reasonable standard of care. Essentially, the Supreme Court is telling drivers across the country that even when briefly passing a semi-truck on a rural highway, it can establish the mens rea for dangerous driving.

There has been significant debate in Provincial Court over the extent of police obligations to facilitate access to counsel. There is no set rule for what police must do and as with so much in criminal law, the factual matrix will determine the reasonableness of steps taken.

Being pulled over for impaired driving or DUI is stressful. In cases where a detainee is accused of impaired driving as a result of drugs, police will conduct a Drug Recognition Evaluation (DRE). Given the power imbalance between detainee and police, the right to counsel is highly important before submitting to such tests.

Impaired driving is unique in that it is the only criminal offence in which you are forced to provide evidence against yourself and if you don’t, you will be charged with refusing to provide a sample of breath. When an individual is pulled over by the police on the side of the road, there is a significant power imbalance. Essentially, the police hold all the cards. There is little you can do other than follow along and comply with whatever the officer tells you to do, whether they are right or wrong. 

In a recent Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench case, the Court grappled with the issue of production of records related to a witness in a murder case who was accepted into the Federal Witness Protection Program (WPP), which was established under federal statute.