If the police arrest or detain you, you have the right to counsel, which is guaranteed by s. 10(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But what does this mean? Right to be informed immediately of your right to counsel Any time police arrest or detain someone they must immediately tell that person about their right to counsel.…
You confirmed your name to a stranger who then gave you a piece of paper with a somewhat familiar word written at the top of the page: subpoena. You’ve been served. What does this paper mean and what are you supposed to do? What is a subpoena? In the context of a criminal cases, a subpoena is a court order…
Canadian Lawyer Magazine has named Edelson Law Barristers one of the top criminal law firms in the country (2022). In October 2021, the Canadian Lawyer team asked lawyers, in-house counsel, and clients from across the country to select the criminal law firms that represent the best in the profession. Survey respondents were asked to rank the top firms from a long list provided;…
Why Do We Have the Presumption of Innocence? Famed American educator and diplomat Kingman Brewster once explained that the presumption of innocence, when approached in commonsense terms, “rests on that generosity of spirit which assumes the best, not the worst, of the stranger.” In Canada, we take this same approach. In fact, the presumption of innocence is not just a…
A Brief History of the Law Relating to Marihuana in Canada Before the Cannabis Act In the 1920s, the Canadian government criminalized cannabis (Opium and Narcotic Drug Act, 1923). In 1937, someone was arrested and charged with marihuana possession for the first time in Canadian history. The message at the time was clear: marihuana was not just bad, it was…
Consider these hypothetical scenarios: Someone accidentally dials 911 and then immediately hangs up when the operator answers. A short time later, four police officers show up at the door and force their way inside. Police show up at a homeowner or renter’s door. The police tell the owner or renter that they are responding to an “unknown trouble call.” They…
Just being accused of a sexual assault can be devastating. But being convicted of a sexual assault is even worse: a conviction can lead to a loss of your livelihood, your reputation, to you being continuously monitored as a sex offender, and for many if not most sexual assaults, going to prison. Indeed, while not the case for sexual assaults,…
According to the Department of Justice, impaired driving is one of the leading causes of criminal death throughout all of Canada. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that the penalties for impaired driving or DUI charges can be severe. But how do they differ from province to province? (Yes, in addition to penalties under the Criminal Code, there are…
Domestic assault charges can have serious and wide-ranging consequences. Under the Criminal Code, there is no specific offence for “domestic assault.” However, the fact that an assault happened in a domestic context is an aggravating factor on sentencing and domestic assaults are (often) treated differently by police and by prosecutors than regular assaults. So what is a “domestic” assault? Domestic…
Michael Edelson was named the Best Lawyers’ 2021 Ottawa Criminal Defence “Lawyer of the Year”.