Articles 2020

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Jordan framework for assessing whether or not an accused person has been tried within a reasonable time applies to young persons.

This article explains the role of the Ontario Ombudsman with respect to service providers who operate under the CYFSA.

There were a large number of Child and Youth Law court decisions and news stories in 2018. We’ve compiled this list to highlight the growing recognition of the many legal issues directly affecting children and the list for 2019 is already well along its way.

Considering Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, youth justice, and the rights of the child.

One of the most frequent questions a family lawyer is asked is “at what age can my child choose to live with me?” Now I don’t practice health law, but out of sheer curiosity I have been following a number of news articles on extending legally-regulated medical assistance in death (MAID) to children.

If someone were to write a history on electronic evidence in family law, they could probably summarize it as a series of waves.

Should adult criminal courts consider the best interests of an offender's dependent children when making sentencing decisions? Could the application of this principle reduce, or even eliminate, a custodial sentence where one might otherwise be entirely appropriate?

Lauren Warner summarizes the recent case of R. v. M.B., 2016 ONCA 760, in which the Ontario Court of Appeal has reminded us that a youth court judge has discretion to determine whether and how much credit to give a youth for pre-sentence custody, especially where considering imposing an adult sentence.

Access to the court records of children and young persons who interact with the criminal or civil justice systems is tightly controlled. For example, youth records created for the purposes of a criminal investigation or prosecution are protected by a strict and comprehensive set of provisions found in Part VI of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The OBA’s Child & Youth Law Section hosted two very important programs on child protection issues in May. A summary of these great presentations is provided.