Canada

City seeks injunction to end Occupy Vancouver's tent city, The Vancouver Sun

First Nations group seeks review of proposed Ring of Fire mine, CTV News

B.C. court suspends residential school compensation cases, The Vancouver Sun

United States

Top court reinstates convicted murderer's death sentence, Reuters

Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of juveniles' life sentences, Reuters

International

Australia passes landmark carbon emissions price laws, Reuters

Sri Lankan court rules asset acquisition act constitutional, Reuters

The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the following four appeals this week:

Nov. 8 — Ontario — Ewaryst Prokofiew v. R.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Ewaryst Prokofiew and a co-accused were charged with conspiracy to defraud the federal government of $3.25 million by pretending to sell heavy equipment to generate HST that they didn’t submit to the government. Prokofiew was convicted and his appeals were dismissed. The Charter issue in question relates to the trial judge’s charge to the jury.

Nov. 8 — Ontario — R. v. Amandeep Banwait

Criminal law: Amandeep Banwait’s appeal of his first-degree murder conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal. At issue is whether the trial judge improperly instructed the jury on the relationship between planning and deliberation and murder as defined in the Criminal Code.

Nov. 9 — British Columbia — Randy Leigh Roy v. R.

Criminal law: Randy Roy was convicted of dangerous driving causing death based in part on the 2006 case R. v. Beatty. The Supreme Court of Canada then reversed Beatty and clarified the mens rea element of dangerous driving. The Court of Appeal applied the curative proviso and dismissed the appeal, ruling that Roy had the mental capacity to be convicted of dangerous driving. There are several judicial questions  raised in this case, including the application of the curative proviso.

Nov. 10 — Quebec — Johan Sarrazin v. Attorney General of Quebec

Criminal law: Johan Sarrazin, a well-known businessman, was charged with sexual activity with a minor, possession of cannabis, and assault. He was released while awaiting trial but then arrested and charged for breaching his conditions. He was confined in prison where he was assaulted by several inmates. After two months, the initial charges against him were dropped. He sued the public authorities for negligence. At issue is whether his Charter rights were violated and if he’s entitled to compensation.

Canada

Saskatoon bus driver wins seatbelt case, The Vancouver Sun

B.C. man gets life sentence for 1998 murder, The Province

Ont. court dismisses ex-Norshield executives' appeals, Financial Post

United States

Occupy Wall Street protesters to fight charges, Reuters

N.Y.C. bar association suggests spousal support changes, Reuters

International

Indian court grants bail to Satyam founder, Reuters

Carlos the Jackal returns to French court over 1980s bombs, Reuters

Canada

Former N.B. priest files appeal to SCC, CBC News

Man receives life sentence for 1995 double murder, CBC News

Brampton trial tossed after key witness killed at Ottawa mall, National Post

United States

L.A. Dodgers, MLB agree to sell baseball team, Reuters

Judge tosses most of $19.9B Madoff case against JPMorgan, Reuters

International

British court orders WikiLeaks founder's extradition, Reuters

South Korean court sentences U.S. soldier to 10 years in rape case, Reuters

Canada

Raptors season-ticket holder sues MLSE for $1.6M, Toronto Star

Truck driver in 5-hour police chase to appear in court, Hamilton Spectator

Vancouver's Stanley Cup riot cases to be in court by late Nov., The Globe and Mail

United States

Judge blocks H&R Block's bid to buy rival, Reuters

Ex-attorney sues law firm for alleged race discrimination, Reuters

International

Nigerian court rejects election challenge, Reuters

Ex-South African police chief appeals jail sentence, Reuters

Canada

Accused B.C. serial killer expected in court, CBC News

Child abductor Stanley Tippett named dangerous offender, London Free Press

Man charged in crash that killed 4 Alta. teens to appear in court, CTV News

United States

Woman reaches deal with U.S. gov't over anthrax death, Reuters

Supreme Court won't hear case over Utah memorial crosses, Reuters

International

Ex-Bank of Italy chief jailed for market-rigging, Reuters

Ex-Israeli soldier jailed for leaking secret documents, Reuters

In a case involving a sexual harassment complaint, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal does not have the authority to award legal costs.

In Canada (Canadian Human Rights Commission) v. Canada (Attorney General), Donna Mowat worked with the Canadian Forces for 14 years. Over the course of her career, she made several complaints about her superiors. Three years after her employment with the military ended, she filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging “sexual harassment, adverse differential treatment, and failure to continue to employ her on account of her sex.” The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in her favour and awarded her $4,000 in damages and $47,000 in legal costs.

The Attorney General of Canada applied for judicial review at the Federal Court regarding the tribunal’s jurisdiction to award legal costs. Following that decision, the attorney general appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal, which ruled that the tribunal did not have the authority to make a costs award under the Canadian Human Rights Act and quashed the tribunal’s decision.

In its ruling, Supreme Court justices Louis LeBel and Thomas Cromwell wrote: “In our view, the text, context, and purpose of the legislation clearly show that there is no authority in the Tribunal to award legal costs and that there is no other reasonable interpretation of the relevant provisions.

“Faced with a difficult point of statutory interpretation and conflicting judicial authority, the Tribunal adopted a dictionary meaning of ‘expenses’ and articulated what it considered to be a beneficial policy outcome rather than engage in an interpretative process taking account of the text, context and purpose of the provisions in issue.”

The SCC upheld the Federal Court of Appeal’s ruling and dismissed the appeal.

Corporations need to pay more attention to information governance, a recent survey has found.

The survey shows 70 per cent of respondents are unsure if board members comply with the corporation’s document-retention policies. Photo: Nenad Djedovic

A survey of global corporations' corporate and company secretaries and general counsel, conducted by Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk & Compliance, found that corporate boards aren’t necessarily in compliance with their corporations’ document-retention policies.

“Information governance, which in practice can be very difficult, may not be a major priority for many corporations, but needs to be applied and practised,” said Ely Razin, head of business law and governance at Thomson Reuters.

“When sharing business-critical information with their boards, corporations must be able to manage their information effectively and appropriately, and also know where the information resides. And information governance is critical so that directors and executives can manage and authenticate the information’s validity and chain of custody.”

Eighty-one per cent of those surveyed said board e-mails and communications are included in the corporation’s document-retention policy. But 70 per cent were unsure if board members are in compliance with the corporation’s document-retention policies. More specifically, 70 per cent didn’t know if board members destroyed all paper copies of board-related e-mails, etc.

This poses a security threat to corporations. For example, if a corporation was required to conduct a discovery process, it would need to check all board members’ computers, files, and other data storage, which would likely be time-consuming and expensive.

“As corporations face daily challenges surrounding their information and its security, document retention and discovery at the board level is emerging as an increasing issue,” added Razin.

“Many corporations have not harnessed all the benefits that technology can provide to protect the organization and its board members.”

Get the full 2011 Thomson Reuters Board Governance Survey here.

Canada

Judge overturns cop killer's $9,500 award, National Post

Windsor doctor sues police for $14M over alleged assault, The Windsor Star

Privacy commissioner concerned about online surveillance laws, CBC News

United States

Judge orders Louisiana to turn over documents to BP, Reuters

Women file new discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart, Reuters

International

Moscow court sentences Muslim man to 20 years in jail, Reuters

German court suspends government's bailout committee, Reuters

Canada

Consumers sue RIM for BlackBerry outage, Reuters

Cdn Wheat Board to fight government in court, Reuters

Alleged serial killer's mother accused as accomplice, National Post

United States

3 Marines face court martial following suicide, Reuters

SeaWorld accused of violating killer whales' rights, Reuters

International

Surrender of Gaddafi's son would challenge ICC, Reuters

Egyptian police officers jailed over activist's death, Reuters