Myles McLellan

Few moments are more significant in Canada’s criminal justice system than when the federal Minister of Justice concludes that a conviction may represent a miscarriage of justice. That rare event occurred once again on July 17, 2026, when Justice Minister Sean Fraser ordered a new trial for Daniel Jolivet, a Quebec man who spent 33 […]

Few principles are more fundamental to the Canadian justice system than this: a criminal conviction must not only be reached—it must be reached fairly. That principle was placed squarely in the public spotlight this week following reports that a judge has granted a post-conviction mistrial to businessman Frank Stronach in one of Canada’s highest-profile criminal

On July 14, 2026, Canada quietly marked one of the most significant human rights milestones in its history: the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty. The date deserves far more attention than it has received. On July 14, 1976, after a deeply divisive debate, the House of Commons voted 131 to 124

Opening Canada has taken important steps in recent years to acknowledge that wrongful convictions occur and to create mechanisms for correcting them. The establishment of the new Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission represents one of the most significant reforms in decades. But correcting a wrongful conviction involves more than overturning an unsafe conviction or releasing

On July 7, 2026, the Government of Canada announced that three major pieces of criminal justice legislation—the Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, the Protecting Victims Act, and the Combatting Hate Act—have now become law. The federal government has described these measures as “one of the most consequential reforms of the Criminal Code in a generation.”

Quebec (Attorney General) v. Denis, 2026 SCC 25 The Supreme Court of Canada has released another important decision in the continuing constitutional debate over mandatory minimum sentences. In Quebec (Attorney General) v. Denis, 2026 SCC 25, a majority of the Court upheld the six-month mandatory minimum sentence imposed on individuals convicted of obtaining sexual services

The Supreme Court of Canada has released what may become one of the most important criminal disclosure decisions in recent years. In Edmonton (Police Service) v. McKee, the Court unanimously reaffirmed a fundamental principle of Canadian justice: an accused person’s right to full answer and defence cannot be defeated by administrative record-keeping policies. For those

The criminal justice system depends upon evidence—not assumptions. That fundamental principle was reaffirmed in a significant recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal, which quashed the convictions of Jatinder Singh and entered acquittals after concluding that the Crown’s circumstantial case left too many unanswered questions to support convictions beyond a reasonable doubt. The decision

For many Canadians, the criminal justice system appears to end at sentencing. A conviction is entered, a sentence is imposed, and the individual disappears from public view into the correctional system. But for families, that is often when a different sentence begins. The story of Farhat Rehman, recently published in Chatelaine, offers a powerful reminder

A Landmark Moment in Canadian Criminal Justice Canada has enacted one of the most significant reforms to its Criminal Code in decades. With Royal Assent of the Protecting Victims Act (Bill C-16), Parliament has introduced sweeping changes intended to strengthen protections for victims of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and gender-based violence while modernizing the