Sections 210, 212(l)(j), and 213(1)(c) of the Criminal Code were struck down as violating section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.

At para. 170 of the decision Justice Himel cites the 2006 study by the House of Commons Report of the Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws, The Challenge of Change: A Study of Canada’s Criminal Prostitution Laws, which states,

The vulnerability of persons engaging in street prostitution is also related to the fact that they frequently change locations. As a result of an arrest, fear of arrest, or a court order, [street prostitutes] are often forced to move to another area, effectively separating them from friends, co-workers, regular customers and familiar places. A number of witnesses indicated that this instability jeopardizes prostitutes’ health, safety and well-being.

The case has been uploaded here to assist these members of the public in accessing this information.

Bedford v. Canada, 2010 ONSC 4264

A special thanks to Simon Fodden on Slaw and the University of Toronto’s Sexual Diversity Blog for facilitating this process. See LexisNexis for a case summary, and CanLii for the complete text in html.

Recent University of Western Ontario Law School graduate Omar Ha-redeye was attracted to scriptural reasoning when he recognized the similarities with his own profession.

“It’s a very rich and fruitful experience for my practice and study of law,” he said, noting the parallels between scriptural reasoning and the interpretive character of the common law tradition.

Ha-redeye has the advantage of having members of all three Abrahamic faiths in his immediate family, giving him special insight into differences and commonalities among the traditions.

His recent law research in Israel revealed that there are principles of Islamic and Jewish law at the roots of the British common law model. He said recognizing similar common ground in religion helps break down prejudice and “scaremongering” about the beliefs and practices of others.

Ochs, Danaher and Ha-Redeye will be at the conference along with 60 students and teachers from schools such as Yale, Duke and the University of Toronto.

The OBA’s Award for Distinguished Service went to Steven F. Rosenhek of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Dianne Saxe of Dianne Saxe Professional Corporation, and Jonathan Speigel of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP.

The OBA’s Linda Adlam Manning Award went to Audrey P. Ramsay of Withrow & Associates.

The OBA’s President’s Award went to Hon. R. Roy McMurtry, OC, O.Ont, Q.C., of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP.

The Hon. Chris Bentley, Attorney General presented the Mundell Medal for Legal Writing to Professor Brenda Cossman of the University of Toronto and William Kaplan, Barrister & Solicitor.

For more photos and information about the awards, see the OBA website:

To augment his legal education, Omar Ha-Redeye registered in a bar prep course with CanBarPrep.

Instructors for the course included Professor Stephanie Ben-Ishai of Osgoode Hall Law School, Howard Black of Minden Gross, Craig Carter of Fasken Martineau, Kim Crosbie of the Crown Law Office – Criminal, Professor Trevor Farrow of Osgoode Hall Law School, Lorne Wolfson of Torkin Manes, Professor Benjamin Alarie of University of Toronto, Professor Poonam Puri of Osgoode Hall Law School, Reuben Rosenblatt of Minden Gross, Freya Kristjansen of Cavalluzzo, Hayes, Shilton, McIntyre & Cornish, and Sid Troister of Torkin Manes.

The first panel was titled, Is there a human right to be free from offence?

Debating the restrictions on free speech in human rights legislation
Grant Huscroft, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law
Richard Moon, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
Philippe Dufresne, Canadian Human Rights Commission, Ottawa

The second panel on Intellectual property law featured Howard Knopf of Macera & Jarzyna, and  Richard Owens of Stikeman Elliot LLP.

The third panel addressed, The legal status of polygamy

Debating whether polygamy should be a Criminal Code offense
Martha Bailey, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Nicholas Bala, Queens University, Faculty of Law
Lorraine Weinrib, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law
Bradley Miller, University of Western Ontario, Faculty of Law

Keynote speaker over the lunch was Supreme Court of Canada Justice Louis LeBel.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada

An afternoon panel looked at the recent decision in R. v. Kapp,  Racial equality, aboriginal rights, and Section 15

Dwight Newman, University of Saskatchewan, College of Law
Bryan Finlay, Weir Foulds LLP, Toronto
Craig Jones, Office of the Attorney General, British Columbia
Jonathan Kay, National Post, Toronto

The kenynote speaker over dinner was George Jonas of the National Post.

Justice Louis LeBel of the Supreme Court of Canada