Category: Criminal Page 1 of 39

Decisions commented on: R v Klayme, 2024 NSPC 4 (CanLII) and R v Klayme, 2026 NSCA 59 (CanLII)

PDF Version: How an Underscore Sent an Innocent Man to Jail

It all began when a mother in Wisconsin, United States, checked her 12-year-old daughter’s phone. What she discovered was horrifying: intimate images and sexually explicit communications with a man who called himself “Jay.” She reported the matter to the police, who seized the phone and extracted 125 messages exchanged through a Kik (social media) messaging account bearing the username fus__ro_dah, with two underscores between “fus” and “ro.”

Dorsey v Canada: A Rare and Necessary Advancement for Prisoners’ Rights

By Amy Matychuk

On December 2, 2025

In Access to Justice, Criminal, Human Rights, Supreme Court of Canada

By: Amy Matychuk

Case Commented On: Dorsey v Canada (Attorney General), 2025 SCC 38 (CanLII)

PDF Version: Dorsey v Canada: A Rare and Necessary Advancement for Prisoners’ Rights

The decision in Dorsey v Canada, issued by the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) on November 21, 2025, represents the first major jurisprudential development in the law of habeas corpus for several years. It expands the availability of habeas corpus to inmates whose applications to transfer to a lower security level have been denied. Prior to Dorsey, habeas corpus was only available in the context of institutional transfers if an inmate’s security level had been involuntarily raised. Writing for the majority in Dorsey, Justice Mary T. Moreau found that a decision denying an inmate transfer to a lower security level qualifies as a deprivation of liberty for which habeas corpus can offer a remedy.

Bill C-332 and the Criminalization of Coercive Control

By Jennifer Koshan

On March 18, 2024

In Criminal, Law Reform

By: Jennifer Koshan

Matter Commented On: Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Study of Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct), 44th Parliament, 1st session

PDF Version: Bill C-332 and the Criminalization of Coercive Control

On February 26, 2024, I appeared before the federal Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights (JUST), which is currently studying Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct).

After hearing from a number of witnesses speaking in favour of, and cautioning against, the criminalization of coercive control (as well as taking positions in between), JUST begins its clause-by-clause study of the Bill today. This post sets out my prepared five-minute opening remarks to JUST, which were followed by a question and answer period. A recording of the hearing is available here and the minutes are available here. In addition, I submitted a 10-page written brief to JUST with colleagues Janet Mosher, Shushanna Harris, and Wanda Wiegers that is available here.

The Myth of False Allegations of Intimate Partner Violence

By Jennifer Koshan

On November 8, 2023

In Criminal, Equality, Family

By: Jennifer Koshan

Case Commented On: R v RMD, 2022 ABKB 851 (CanLII)

PDF Version: The Myth of False Allegations of Intimate Partner Violence

A colleague recently brought to my attention a decision concerning intimate partner sexual violence that was released earlier this year. In R v RMD, Justice Robert Graesser dealt with an application by the accused to cross-examine the complainant – his previous partner – on her past sexual activity in a criminal trial for alleged sexual assault. The court’s reasons for decision on this application arguably perpetuate one of the most common myths about intimate partner violence (IPV): that litigants make false or exaggerated claims of violence to gain an advantage in family law disputes. Indeed, the court went so far as to take judicial notice of this “fact” (at para 45). This post unpacks the decision, placing it in the larger context of gendered myths and stereotypes about IPV and the relevant research and case law.

Submission to Justice Canada on the Criminalization of Coercive Control

By Janet Mosher

On November 2, 2023

In Criminal, Law Reform

By: Janet Mosher, Shushanna Harris, Jennifer Koshan, and Wanda Wiegers

Bill Commented On: Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct), First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament (2023)

PDF Version: Submission to Justice Canada on the Criminalization of Coercive Control

Justice Canada has been holding an engagement process on the issue of whether an offence of coercive control should be added to the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46. This offence has been proposed in a series of private members bills, most recently, Bill C-332. Our submission (link below) argues that it is imperative that actors in all legal domains acquire a nuanced and contextual understanding of coercive control derived from an intersectional analysis that attends to how multiple systems of oppression interact to shape the tactics of coercion and control. However, we do not support the criminalization of coercive control, either as a standalone offence or within a broader offence of domestic abuse/violence. We argue that it is the former approach – the acquisition of deep and contextualized knowledge by legal system actors – and not criminalization, that holds promise in enhancing safety for women and children.