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Author: Amy Matychuk Page 3 of 4

Amy Matychuk (JD'18, UCalgary Law) is a sole practitioner at Prison & Police Law, where she advocates for the rights of those who have experienced unfair treatment by the prison or police systems in Alberta. More information about her practice is available at prisonpolicelaw.ca.

R v Acera: Responding to the Call to Action in Jordan Via Detention Review Hearings

By: Amy Matychuk

PDF Version: R v Acera: Responding to the Call to Action in Jordan Via Detention Review Hearings

Case Commented On: R v Acera, 2017 ABQB 470 (CanLII)

In R v Acera, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench reviewed the detention of 34 accused persons in remand awaiting trial. Under s 525 of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, an accused detainee has the right to have their detention reviewed to determine whether they should be released pending trial when either 30 days (for a summary offence) or 90 days (for an indictable offence) have elapsed from the date they were taken into custody. The institution with custody of the accused must make a request on the accused’s behalf for a detention review hearing. At the hearing, the court shall assess the accused’s detention using the criteria in s 515(10) of the Code: whether detention is necessary to ensure the accused’s attendance in court, to protect the public, or to maintain confidence in the administration of justice. However, s 525 also provides an opportunity for a superior court to become involved in case planning to ensure matters reach trial without unreasonable delay, and that additional purpose was the focus of Justice J. B. Veit’s decision in Acera.

“Beyond This Court’s Capacity”: Habeas Corpus Hearings Restricted to Liberty Remedies Only

By: Amy Matychuk

PDF Version: “Beyond This Court’s Capacity”: Habeas Corpus Hearings Restricted to Liberty Remedies Only

Case Commented On: McCargar v Canada, 2017 ABQB 416 (CanLII)

On May 5, 2017, Mr. McCargar, currently a federal prison inmate, filed a joint habeas corpus application in the Court of Queen’s Bench on behalf of himself and three other inmates. Habeas corpus is a constitutional and common law remedy for unlawful detention; however, it is usually invoked as an individual remedy because it assesses individual circumstances, so a joint application is unorthodox. Mr. McCargar also undertook to represent his fellow inmates (at their request) in court on the joint application. Justice John T. Henderson quickly disabused Mr. McCargar of the notion that he could act in the role of a lawyer, and in his judgment, described the narrow circumstances in which joint habeas corpus applications are appropriate, clarified the kinds of state treatment that merit the remedy of habeas corpus at all, declined to take jurisdiction of the application, and proposed new restrictions on habeas corpus hearings. He also ordered $1000 in costs against Mr. McCargar, found Mr. McCargar in prima facie contempt of court, and restricted his court filing activities pending a hearing on whether he should be declared a vexatious litigant.

Charter Violations Inside Prisons: Irremediable in the Name of Protecting the Public?

By: Amy Matychuk

PDF Version: Charter Violations Inside Prisons: Irremediable in the Name of Protecting the Public?

Case Commented On: R v Blanchard, 2017 ABQB 369 (CanLII)

The applicant in this case, Lance David Blanchard, is a nearly 60-year-old man who committed his first criminal offence (rape) in 1975. His other previous criminal convictions include multiple charges of unlawful confinement, assault (including with a weapon), and manslaughter. Most recently, he was convicted of aggravated assault, kidnapping, unlawful confinement, aggravated sexual assault, possession of a weapon, threatening to cause death or bodily harm, and breach of a recognizance. He has been designated a High Profile offender, and has been incarcerated at the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC) since June 2014, in administrative segregation and protective custody. His most recent trial received attention from the media and the legal community because of the incarceration of the sexual assault complainant, “Angela Cardinal” (critiqued on ABlawg by Professor Alice Woolley here and here). Having been convicted in that trial, Mr. Blanchard then sought a stay or a sentence reduction because of the severely adverse conditions he experienced while awaiting trial at ERC.

Ewanchuk Continues to Treat Habeas Corpus as an All-Purpose Remedy

By: Amy Matychuk

PDF Version: Ewanchuk Continues to Treat Habeas Corpus as an All-Purpose Remedy

Case Commented On: Ewanchuk v Canada (Parole Board), 2017 ABCA 145 (CanLII)

On May 16, 2017, the Alberta Court of Appeal (ABCA) released a decision dismissing a habeas corpus application with certiorari in aid from Stephen Brian Ewanchuk, who just this week was featured on ABlawg for being declared a vexatious litigant in the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench (ABQB) on a different application for habeas corpus. As Jonnette Watson Hamilton noted in that post, this is the same Ewanchuk whose sexual assault conviction was the subject of an oft-cited Supreme Court decision. He is now 68 years old and since 2007 has been serving his fifth sentence for sexual assault, this time on a minor. In the current habeas corpus application at the ABCA, he challenged the Parole Board of Canada’s April 25, 2014 decision (and the subsequent Nov 12, 2015 ABQB decision) not to provide relief on his statutory release date, but instead to require him to serve out the remainder of his sentence. He will be released on February 21, 2018.

Alberta Amends the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Regulation

By: Amy Matychuk and Jo-Ann Munn Gafuik

PDF Version: Alberta Amends the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Regulation

Legislation Commented On: Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Regulation, Alta Reg 98/2006

In the Fall of 2016 the Public Interest Law Clinic at the University of Calgary recommended changes to the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service Regulation, which expired on April 30, 2017. The Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service (RTDRS) is established under Part 5.1 of the Residential Tenancies Act, SA 2004, c R-17.1 as an alternative to the Provincial Court for dealing with landlord/tenant disputes under the Act. ABlawg has documented significant problems with the RTDRS and the Regulation in several posts written by Professor Jonnette Watson Hamilton here, here, here, and here. The scheduled expiry of the Regulation was an opportunity for the Alberta government to address these problems through amendments. However, the amendments enacted on April 24, 2017, while including some welcome changes, fall well short of addressing noted problems with the RTDRS.

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