December 2025

Did the SCC Eliminate Impaired Driving Defence Technicalities?

Close-up of a police officer conducting a breathalyzer test on a driver to check for blood alcohol levels.

On November 14, 2025, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) settled a nationwide debate regarding breath alcohol testing evidence. In its decision, R. v. Rousselle, 2025 SCC 35, a companion case to R. v. Larocque, 2025 SCC 36, the Court confirmed that the Crown is not required to call an analyst to testify or file documents from the analyst in every impaired driving case to prove the reliability of the alcohol standard used in breath testing.

The central question was one of evidence: could the Crown rely solely on the certificate of the qualified technician, a police officer operating the approved instrument, to prove a precondition that the alcohol standard used was certified by an analyst?. The SCC answered a resounding yes.

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Did the SCC Eliminate Impaired Driving Defence Technicalities?Read More »

Did the SCC Eliminate Impaired Driving Defence Technicalities? Read More »

Language Rights: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!

Welcome to “Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!”

In this episode, Kyla Lee from Acumen Law Corporation examines a case involving language rights in criminal proceedings. The accused, Altamond Jr. Little, elected to have his trial in French. Due to complications with counsel and available resources, an interpreter was used—but the interpretation during trial was flawed. Although Mr. Little never raised the issue at trial and his lawyer did not object, he later argued on appeal that the imperfect interpretation led to an unfair trial. The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear the case, missing an opportunity to clarify the standard for language rights in criminal trials.

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Language Rights: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t!Read More »

Language Rights: Cases That Should Have Gone to the Supreme Court of Canada, But Didn’t! Read More »

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