Author Archives: Gideon Christian

About Gideon Christian

LL.B (Lagos), LL.M, PhD (Ottawa). Assistant Professor. Please click here for more information.

#AI Facial Recognition Technology in the Retail Industry

By: Gideon Christian

Issue Commented On: OIPC Investigation Report 23-02: Canadian Tire Associate Dealers’ use of facial recognition technology, 2023 BCIPC 17

PDF Version: #AI Facial Recognition Technology in the Retail Industry

One summer day in 2023, I entered a Walmart store in Calgary, Alberta, and purchased three standing fans. Upon assembling the fans at home, I discovered that one was malfunctioning. I immediately decided to return it to the store. Armed with my purchase receipt, I walked to the return desk. After a brief wait in line, I presented the defective fan and the receipt to the Walmart staff. To my astonishment, he informed me that the receipt was not necessary and casually remarked, “You bought three of these today, right?” Concealing my surprise, I affirmed. He swiftly processed my refund. Continue reading →

Canada Study Permit Litigation – Critical Analysis of Inconsistent Jurisprudence on Financial Requirement

By: Gideon Christian

Case Commented On: Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Canada Study Permit Litigation – Critical Analysis of Inconsistent Jurisprudence on Financial Requirement

Early this year, Justice Little of the Federal Court released the much-awaited decision in Ocran v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2022 FC 175 (CanLII). I am not aware of any study permit judicial review litigation that attracted the attention of Canadian immigration lawyers as much as Ocran. The notoriety of this judicial review litigation was based on the fact that it was a test case that the Department of Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) sought to use to obtain judicial approval for its use of the controversial Chinook software in processing of immigration applications. That approval never came. But the fixation on Chinook software caused many immigration lawyers to miss a very important and controversial judicial pronouncement in Ocran relating to the financial requirement for Canadian study permit applications. Continue reading →

eLitigation – Training Future Litigators for the Profession They Will Join

By: Gideon Christian

PDF Version: eLitigation – Training Future Litigators for the Profession They Will Join 

Matter Commented On: Law 693 – eLitigation at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic changed our legal world in a way no one could have imagined. Our courthouse went from a beehive of litigation activities to a silent graveyard. Practice directives containing emergency measures were issued and activated to deal with the change. Our civil litigation system that has historically relied on an in-person process to undertake almost every task – from the filing and service of litigation documents to routine chambers applications and trials – suddenly moved online.

The legal profession was forced to adopt technologies to address administration and litigation needs at an unprecedented pace. The COVID-19 pandemic radically changed the way we practice and conduct litigation, and it appears from every indication that the change is here to stay. For law schools entrusted with the “sacred” duty of educating and training future lawyers, the most noticeable response to this change was a quick transition from in-person to online (or hybrid) methods of instruction. However, it should go beyond that to include a reform of the existing curriculum to adequately prepare law students for the legal profession in a post-COVID-19 world. As a civil litigation professor with a background in legal technology, my response during this crisis was to develop a new course designed to train future litigators with skills and competence to commence and conduct litigation electronically, and with minimal in-person contact. Welcome to Law 693 – eLitigation at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law!

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Harnessing the Power of AI Technology; A Commentary on the Law Commission of Ontario Report on AI and the Criminal Justice System

By: Lisa Silver and Gideon Christian

PDF Version: Harnessing the Power of AI Technology; A Commentary on the Law Commission of Ontario Report on AI and the Criminal Justice System

Report Commented On: Law Commission of Ontario, The Rise and Fall of AI and Algorithms In American Criminal Justice: Lessons for Canada, (Toronto: October 2020).

The Law Commission of Ontario (LCO) recently released its Report on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms in the Canadian criminal justice system. The Report, which is the first of three papers on the issue, is one of the most comprehensive discussions of the use of AI and algorithmic technologies in the criminal justice system to date. In Canada, AI use in the criminal justice system is limited and not easily subject to in-depth review. In the United States, however, AI and algorithms are used extensively throughout the justice system, particularly in pre-trial release decision-making. Not surprisingly, then, the Report draws from this American experience to arrive at a number of recommendations for application to the Canadian context. Based on those lessons learned, the LCO Report warns of “the risk of adopting unproven and under-evaluated technologies too quickly to address long-standing, complex and structural problems in the justice system” (at 7).  Yet, in the midst of this cautionary tone, the Report also recognizes that AI use in the criminal justice system will likely increase in the future. The Report proactively outlines a framework for such use by urging AI regulation, the application of legal protections to AI, and community involvement in developing AI best practices. All of these warnings and recommendations are extremely useful but the Report begs the basic question of whether the justice system should be using machine intelligence, with its embedded biases, in matters that can profoundly change people’s lives. Ultimately, the Report should stand as a timely reminder of the unharnessed power of technology and the realistic potential for injustice when it is used without restraint.

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Revisiting the Doctrine of Spoliation in the Age of Electronic Documents

By: Gideon Christian

PDF Version: Revisiting the Doctrine of Spoliation in the Age of Electronic Documents

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven us deeper into the virtual world. In our “new” work environments, conversations which were previously had one-on-one in office settings are now carried on by phone calls and emails. Meetings previously held in person are now substantially held virtually in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx, etc., and they are often recorded in electronic format. One of the impacts of this change is the fact that more than ever before, evidence of our work or business interactions, discussions and transactions will exist in this electronic format. We are generating more electronic documents than ever, and some of these documents may become the subject of discovery in future litigation arising from present transactions. The inability to produce these documents when they become relevant in future litigation may give rise to spoliation. Although the doctrine of spoliation was developed in the age of paper documents, the courts have increasingly applied it in the context of electronic documents. It is important to revisit this common law doctrine to identify the proper approach in its application to electronic documents, and its limits in addressing issues relating to preservation of electronic documents in litigation.

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