legal development

August 30, 2021

The Supreme Court―What Is It Good for?

The Supreme Court is deciding fewer cases; is this a sign of modesty, or boldness? Continue reading

The Justice System

judicial power, Leave to appeal, legal development, Supreme Court of Canada
January 30, 2016

How to Get It Right on Wrongs

Ontario’s Superior Court has created a new tort. But should it have, in the circumstances? In Doe 464533, 2016 ONSC 541, a delivered a couple of weeks ago, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice awarded substantial damages to a person whose ex-boyfriend posted an intimate video of her online, in addition to showing it to some Continue reading

Legal philosophy, The Justice System

judging, legal development, privacy, procedure, tort
July 17, 2015

Did You Make It Yourself?

I did not blog about Bhasin v. Hrynew, 2014 SCC 71, [2014] 3 S.C.R. 495, the Supreme Court’s decision on the role of good faith in the Canadian common law of contract, when it came out. Truth be told, I hadn’t even read it. Just a contracts case, I figured ― no matter how important it Continue reading

Legal philosophy

contract law, good faith, legal development, principles, Supreme Court of Canada
October 18, 2012

To Track or Not to Track?

There was an interesting article in the New York Times this weekend about the brewing fight around “do not track” features of internet browsers (such as Firefox or Internet Explorer) that are meant to tell websites visited by the user who has enabled the features not to collect information about the user’s activity for the Continue reading

New Technologies

Fuller, Hayek, internet, legal development, legislation, social ordering
September 9, 2012

A Forecast on Suing the Weatherman

First of all, apologies for my disappearance. The last two weeks have been hectic, and I have been most neglectful of the blogging duties. I hope to resume them now. My first comeback post will be a lighthearted one though. The New York Times Magazine has an entertaining piece―actually, an adaption of a excerpt from a Continue reading

New Technologies

duty of care, legal development, technology, tort
August 19, 2012

Unsettling Settlement

I blogged some time ago about a settlement between an unspecified group of plaintiffs and Facebook regarding Facebook’s approach to what it calls “sponsored stories” which tell us that such and such friends “like” a certain company’s page. I raised some questions about the way in which this settlement works to create new rules, social Continue reading

Legal philosophy, New Technologies, The Justice System

cours, Facebook, Fuller, legal development, legislation, social ordering
June 25, 2012

In with the New?

Last week, I suggested that “[n]ew technologies seem not so much to create moral issues as to serve as a new canvass on which to apply our old concerns.” But there is no doubt that our legal rules, unlike perhaps moral ones, need updating when new technology comes along. How this updating is to happen is Continue reading

Legal philosophy, New Technologies, The Justice System

Facebook, Fuller, internet, legal development, legislation, social ordering, technology