Certificate of analysis ok as evidence despite minor error and delay?
A court accepted a Maxxam certificate of analysis into evidence in an environmental prosecution, despite a minor error in an internal chain of custody, and a two month delay in issuing the certificate. The decision is useful for anyone who takes samples, analyses them or uses the result in court.
Continue reading the post titled Certificate of analysis ok as evidence despite minor error and delay?Where Can I Bring My Family Law Application?
Before you issue an Application for relief in family law, you first need to determine the appropriate municipality in which to bring your Application. This article deals with choosing the appropriate municipality within Ontario. For a determination of whether or not Ontario should assume jurisdiction over a case (i.e. where there is a competition over jurisdiction...
Continue reading the post titled Where Can I Bring My Family Law Application?Can biased sampling create hazardous waste?
One of our current cases deals with a question that is critical to everyone in the waste business: can biased sampling make a non-hazardous waste “hazardous”?
Continue reading the post titled Can biased sampling create hazardous waste?More on killing birds with buildings as an environmental offence
Ecojustice has settled its bird-killing prosecution against the Menkes Developments (Consilium Place) office complex. As described in a previous post, Ecojustice (as counsel for Ontario Nature) charged Menkes with environmental offences. They proved that these buildings were unusually dangerous to birds, killing or injuring 900 birds during 2008 and 2009 as a result of collisions with their reflective glass. At trial,...
Continue reading the post titled More on killing birds with buildings as an environmental offenceOntario’s New Drug-Impaired Driving Laws
In an effort to put an end to drugged driving, as of October 2, 2016, drug-impaired drivers face penalties matching those in place for drunk drivers. Motorists stopped by police while under the influence of drugs now face a minimum $180 penalty and immediate license suspension. In additional, impaired motorists may face criminal charges. Drivers...
Continue reading the post titled Ontario’s New Drug-Impaired Driving LawsInco awarded $1,766,000 in costs for contamination class action
Justice J. R. Henderson of the Ontario Superior Court has awarded Inco $1,766,000 in legal costs arising from the Smith v. Inco nickel contamination class action in Port Colborne, Ontario. This is less than a quarter of Inco’s actual legal costs, which exceeded $5,340,000 after certification.
Continue reading the post titled Inco awarded $1,766,000 in costs for contamination class actionKivalina loses its climate change nuisance case again
The City and Village of Kivalina, population about 400, sits on the tip of a six-mile barrier reef on the northwest coast of Alaska. The residents depend on the sea ice that forms along the coast to shield them from violent storms. Sea ice has consistently declined in recent years – it is thinner, smaller,...
Continue reading the post titled Kivalina loses its climate change nuisance case againEnvironmental penalties gaining steam
Ontario’s environmental penalties regime for spills is gathering steam. The final count for 2009 was 13 penalties totalling $112,143.20, most under the Environmental Protection Act. The highest penalty was $23,750. Thirteen more penalties have already been issued in the first four months of 2010, totalling $77,003.
Continue reading the post titled Environmental penalties gaining steamNo personal environmental conviction without knowledge or participation
When is an individual liable to conviction for a corporate environmental offence? The Ontario Ministry of the Environment has insisted that management personnel are automatically liable for corporate environmental offences, and has laid numerous charges on this basis. The Summary Conviction Appeal Court disagrees. For personal liability, individual defendants must either participate in committing the...
Continue reading the post titled No personal environmental conviction without knowledge or participationAnti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prize
Helen Slottje, a lawyer in Ithaca, New York, was recently awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her work “helping towns across New York defend themselves from oil and gas companies by passing local bans on fracking” (the US equivalent of anti-fracking bylaws). Her legal research concluded that individual townships could use zoning laws, through “home rule”, to...
Continue reading the post titled Anti-fracking bylaws: US Lawyer wins green Nobel prizeReceive Blog Posts
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