With the holiday season in full swing, many of us are travelling outside of Canada, whether to visit family or just to take advantage of south-of-the-border deals. Before bringing any new purchases back home, it is important to review the law that applies to importing goods into our home and native land. This CED excerpt overviews some of the importing obligations imposed by the Customs Act and the power of customs officers to conduct searches on border crossers.

In the wake of the controversy surrounding Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford, there has been considerable attention on what legal grounds allow for the removal of an elected mayor from office. This C.E.D post provides an overview of grounds for removal. Interestingly, Ontario is one of the few jurisdictions where a criminal conviction alone is insufficient to remove a member of council or a mayor. However, being unable to vote in a municipal election disqualifies a person from holding office, and persons serving penal sentences are not permitted to vote in municipal elections. Therefore, a member of council or a mayor who is serving a penal sentence may be removed from office on the ground of being ineligible to vote in a municipal election.

On October 18, the Supreme Court of Canada released Cuthbertson v. Rasouli, 2013 CarswellOnt 14113, a decision affirming that a physician must obtain the consent of a patient’s substitute decision maker in order to withdraw life support. If the substitute decision maker refuses to give consent, the physician may challenge the refusal before the Consent and Capacity Board. The following excerpt contains a detailed overview of the law concerning the treatment of patients who are mentally incapable of providing consent.

Over the past few years, Freemen-on-the-land or “OPCA” (organized pseudolegal commercial argument) litigants have had an increasing presence in the courtroom, performing contemptible acts such as denying the authority of the court, disobeying court orders, disrupting court proceedings and in one instance, attempting to arrest the sitting judge. This post provides a concise explanation of what may merit a finding of contempt of court.

The duty to consult is a critical issue in the law governing the relationship between the Crown and Aboriginal peoples in Canada. This month's excerpt is an explanation of this important topic from the newly published Aboriginal Law title of the Canadian Encyclopedic Digest.

The Rule Against Perpetuities is a notoriously difficult area of law–able to confound even the sharpest legal minds. The C.E.D. provides a clear and concise explanation of this topic, deftly illuminating the logic behind the Rule. Behold!

Human Rights is a rich and complex area of law within Canadian jurisprudence. One distinguishing feature of human rights legislation is its “quasi-constitutional” status, which is associated with special rules of statutory interpretation. This post provides a concise summary of those rules, as well as a discussion of constitutional aspects of human rights law, and the burden of proof on human rights claimants.

Following a controversial year in hockey, many of the legal issues surrounding the sport have been pushed to the fore. On the occasion of the hotly-anticipated 2013 NHL playoffs, here is an overview of the law governing professional sports. This post highlights the following topics: the ownership, financing, and management of teams |sports broadcasting; the application of the Competition Act to professional sports | labour relations and players’ associations |the promotion and protection of personality | and the owner of trophies.

The regulatory regime for pensions is complex. Depending on the industry, the pension may be governed either by federal or provincial legislation. This post provides an overview of the Federal regulatory regime for private pensions. It covers such issues as: delegation of responsibility to other professional advisors such as accountants | plan expenses | the minimum standards that all federally regulated pension plans must meet | the disclosure of information; and | funding and investments.