Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers in Canada for the Week ending June 26

1. Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Family Lawyers
2. David J. Rotfleish, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Business Lawyer, Toronto Tax Lawyer
3. Kerry Joan Lee, Owen sound Lawyers, Owen sound Family Lawyer
4. Dante Capannelli, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Business Lawyers
5. Kavita V. Bhagat, Brampton Lawyers, Brampton Family Lawyers

Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers for the Week ending June 15

1. Brian Galbriath, Barrie Lawyers, Barrie Family Lawyers
2. Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Family Lawyers
3. Christopher Hicks, Toronto Lawyers, Toronto Criminal Lawyers
4. Alisa Williams, Hamilton Lawyers, Hamilton Family Lawyers
5. Rose Keith, Vancouver Lawyers, Vancouver Personal Injury Lawyers

Stay tuned for next week’s most viewed lawyers coming your way!

Most Viewed Canadian Lawyers for the Week of June 01, 2009

1.  Lorne Fine, Toronto Lawyer, Toronto Family Lawyer

2.  Anna Perry, Vancouver Lawyer, Vancouver Family Lawyer, Vancouver Real Estate Lawyer

3.  Norman F. Williams, Hamilton Lawyer, Hamilton Criminal Lawyer

4.  Graydon Sheppard, Hamilton Lawyer, Hamilton Personal Injury Lawyer

5.  Paul Pellman, Toronto Lawyer, Toronto Family Lawyer

Stay tuned for the next week’s most viewed lawyer edition!

Continuing on with the cigarette related articles posted some time ago, we will tell you about one more Act that exists and is valid in Canada - the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act.

Canada is not only one of the leading countries in prohibition of the smoking advertising, but is also a huge advocate  of the second part of the tobacco problem - the health of the Canadian citizens. They are protected by the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which allows the government and lawyer to sue tobacco companies for breach of duty to recover costs on the health care system for people suffering from tobacco related illnesses. This act was found constitutionally valid in the Supreme Court of Canada decision on the British Columbia v. Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd. case in 2005. This historic case had its first turning point on June 5, 2003 when the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the Tobacco Damages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act violates the territorial limits of provincial law and was unconstitutional. The decision was overturned in May 2004 be the Court Of Appeal, on the basis that the pith and substance, ie. the dominant characteristic, of the canadian law fell under the property and civil rights provision of the Constitution Act, 1867. Imperial Tobacco continued the struggle and on June 22, 2004 the company appealed to Supreme Court of Canada. They were supported by four other tobacco companies and the Canadian Tobacco Manufacturers’ Council. The Supreme Court of Canada agreed to hear the case.

The Supreme Court reviewed three main issues:

   1. Is the Act ultra vires the province by reason of extraterritoriality?

   2. Is the Act constitutionally invalid as being inconsistent with judicial independence?

   3. Is the Act constitutionally invalid for violating the rule of law?

The answer for all the three was negative and on September 29, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal. The Tobacco companies clamed that the Act was retrospective and retroactive and violated the rule of law by creating an unfair trial. They also felt that legislation should neither target a particular sector nor confer special privileges on the government. The Constitution protects the rule of law and so it does not require that Act ensures a fair civil trial or avoids giving the government advantages. The Supreme Court found this conception amorphous and claimed that accepting it would render several more narrowly formulated provisions of the Charter redundant. The Court dismissed the suggestion that a shift in burden to the accused or the unconventional rules of procedure and evidence created by the Act will have any effect on Judicial independence. The Head of Supreme Court found that pith and substance of the Act was within the authority of the province under section 92(13) of the Constitution Act, 1867. The subject of the Act, compensation for health costs, and the effect, suing companies who harmed those in the province, must be under the regulation of the provincial law.  So find a lawyer for you if you require compensation for health costs.

Lawyerahead.ca has the most comprehensive information on a canadian lawyer.  Browse Lawyers or Post Case.

Every company at a certain moment of time needs to make some changes to expand further. There are many things that a business requires in order to grow successfully and one such things is purchasing your own business space.  The main thing to keep in mind is that when you are purchasing a Business Space in Canada is: don’t make any rush decision without consulting an experienced real-estate lawyer.  Visit lawyerahead.ca for the most comprehensive canadian lawyer profile in Canada.  Alternatively, to find a lawyer, you may post your case and have qualified lawyers contact you with how they may be able to help you.

In Canada, there are two types of business space purchases.  It can either be done in a registered condominium or in a non-condominium form of freehold property.  However the condominium has a number of practical differences. Like paying the monthly common expenses to operate the property in which the space is located (set by an elected Board). The Condominium Board and a hired property manager look after many of the aspects of property ownership and save time for the owner. They do things like arranging fire insurance, maintaining the common elements and gathering the ‘reserve money’ for common expenses, which can later be used for major capital repairs and replacements as required. With this method of business space purchase, the owner can end up focusing more on core business and not so much on business premises. Still there are many ownership considerations for both types of business space purchases.  For example, the property tax structure as they are payable on both types of ownership and both may be resold and mortgaged.

In the most common scheme of purchasing a business space in Canada, the bank also plays a major role, because it provides most of the capital towards purchasing of a business space. In some cases banks have their own requirements like the delivery of satisfactory appraisals, collateral security on your principal residence, if required, guarantees, and the provision of independent legal advice to spouses.  So usually a financing condition in favor of the purchaser is included to secure a binding commitment from its lender before the purchase. A zoning review provision is also an important part of the agreement, because zoning in Canada is an important matter in a commercial transaction. Usually a zoning by-law review in Canada will involve a review of the zoning provisions at the municipality, like the confirmation that the business use is permitted or that the requisite number of parking spaces is available to accommodate the business use. It is also very important to remember that commercial agreement of purchase and sale in Canada will differ substantially from a residential form of agreement. For example a commercial agreement of purchase gives the purchaser a possibility to review the property and the results of such reviews usually influence the price of the property.

To this point you already understood that this type of purchase in not a simple on.  As already mentioned a real estate lawyer must be present even at the earliest stages of the purchase process. Talk to a lawyer or even few lawyers first.  Especially in commercial purchase transactions, where the form of purchase agreement must be reviewed very carefully by a real-estate professional. Every residential purchase agreement has some unique provisions that need to be checked by lawyers, this will help you in purchasing business space in Canada.

Grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether there is enough evidence for a trial in common law. Usually the grand juries carry out this duty ether by examining evidence presented by a prosecutor and issuing indictments or by investigating alleged crimes and issuing presentments. A grand jury is usually larger than the petite jury used during a trial. The size of grand jury depends on the jurisdiction and varies between twelve and twenty-three.

If a grand jury is working at the case the jurors are summoned to serve for a certain period of time, the period sometimes lasts many months, but usually the jurors need to attend the sessions only a few days a month. As for indictment the jurors do not have to agree unanimously to issue an indictment, but usually the law of the state requires a vote of two-thirds or three-quarters of the jurors to indict. In most cases the prosecutors work very close with the grand jury. They use the grand jury’s broad investigative power to compel witnesses to appear and answer questions or submit documents, records, and other evidence. The evidence is then examined by the jury and prosecutors and they decide if there is enough evidence to issue an indictment against one or more persons. All the procedures of the grand jury are secret and in most states it is considered a crime to reveal information about these proceedings. No media, public and the investigated person are allowed to be present at the hearings. The goal of grand jury is to encourage the witnesses to speak freely without fear of possible consequences (like threats). In most states if people are called to testify before grand jury, they are not allowed to have their lawyers with them in the grand jury room. The grand jury makes its findings without hearing both sides of the case, so that’s why the lawyers don’t play any role in these proceedings. Of course in any other circumstances defend can have a lawyer present during his or her trial.  The judge is also not present at these hearings, so the only side present during the work of grand jury is the prosecutor.

Today grand juries exist only in some of the states in the U.S. This type of jury was used for a very long time in countries with the common law system. Still England abandoned grand juries in 1933 and replaced it with a committal procedure. All the Australian states use the same scheme, except for the State of Victoria that maintains provisions for a grand jury in the Crimes Act 1958. Grand juries in this state are used to bring other persons to court seeking them to be committed for trial on indictable offenses. New Zealand abolished the grand jury in 1961. In Canada these juries were abolished in 1970s. In most countries including Canada the grand juries are replaced by preliminary hearings.  Unlike the grand jury scenario, a Canadian lawyer for the defendant can be present during the preliminary hearing. Preliminary hearing is a stage when the judge hears evidence concerning the alleged offenses and decides if the prosecutor can proceed or the arrested person must be set free.  It is very important to find a lawyer to consult with you shall you be charged with criminal offense.  Please use lawyerahead.ca free service to search for and find lawyers.  Consequences of getting a criminal record can be devastating to anyone’s future and some even dip into their savings to avoid a bad outcome and hire the right canadian lawyers.

Grand Jury Protest in Utah

Such man could arise only during post-USSR Russia times. Victor Bout named “the most powerful player in the trafficking of illegal arms” is finally facing justice. He is already a living legend, but became more famous (or better to say infamous) only few years ago after the 2005 movie Lord of War, based on victor’s life, where “he” was played by Nicolas Cage and Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible, a book about him published in 2007. His clients were dictators, separatists, terrorists groups, and even western governments. He actually managed to sell arms to the U.S. government and to the UN even after he was officially declared a fugitive. Bout is probably one of the greatest of the last criminal masterminds.

Viktor Bout started his “career” when he retired from the Russian Army 1993. The same year he started his first company Transavia Export Cargo.  He managed to build up a huge arms smuggling empire that was well under the radar and in some cases not even linked directly to him. His success was immense only between 1992 and 1995 where he made an approximate $50 million from weapons trade with several Afghan groups. Bout made a significant amount of money by selling illegal arms to countries that the UN has placed arms embargoes on. In 1995 Bout established the Trans Aviation Network Group in Belgium, purchased a mansion there and started to live a luxurious life. In 1995 he also founded Air Cess Company based in Equatorial Guinea and registered in Liberia. This company was focused on Africa and supplied weapons and ammunition for African conflicts in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland and Uganda. Air Cess even had an office in Miami, Florida, but quickly closed in 2001, after major investigation on him began. In 1997 the newspapers revealed his shady businesses and got the Belgian government to begin investigations. Bout moved to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and founded his United Arab Emirates Company. This man was considered to be the center of a spider’s web of shady arms dealers, diamond brokers, and other operatives, sustaining the wars.

Bout became a high priority for international authorities only when his African arms dealings became prominent. But he was placed on a top-priority list for U.S. officials only after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, because he supplied weapons to the Taliban, which we all know by know has close ties to al-Qaeda even today. In 2002 both Belgium and Interpol issued warrants for his arrest and he fled to Russia, where he remained protected by the Russian Constitution which does not allow extradition of citizens to foreign nations. Viktor Bout was arrested in Bangkok, Thailand on 6 February 2008, by US DEA agents and ofcourse hired the best lawyers. But only on September 22, 2008 A Bangkok Criminal Court began US extradition trials for him. Bouts’ Thai lawyer moved to dismiss the 4 terrorism conspiracy counts and while the Russian government stated attempts to link this issue to international terrorism can damage the interests and reputation of Russia. The government further stated that illegal prosecution Russian citizen Viktor Bout must be stopped and his rights must be secured.

Visit Lawyerahead.ca for more information on criminal lawyers and find the right lawyer for your legal needs.  If you are facing criminal charges, it is higly recommended to consult a canadian lawyer and find out how lawyers can help you the best for your specific issue.

In Canada the possession and trafficking of substances like drugs and other controlled substances is a subject of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. It was passed in 1996 and repeals the Narcotic Control Act and Parts III and IV of the Food and Drug Act. This Act provides that “The Governor in Council may, by order, amend any of Schedules I to VIII by adding to them or deleting from them any item or portion of an item, where the Governor in Council deems the amendment to be necessary in the public interest.” The complete list of drugs scheduled in Canada’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act is divided into eight schedules depending on the type of the drug and two Classes of precursors. Each schedule has a different penalty for possession.

Schedule I contains the heaviest drugs: opium poppy derivatives like Opium, Heroin, Codeine, Morphine, etc.; Coca and derivatives the most popular is Cocaine; Amidones (Methadone and similar compounds); Methamphetamine and Ketamine. Schedule II is for Cannabis and derivatives. Schedule III is for mostly chemically obtained drugs like Amphetamines (excluding Methamphetamine), Ritalin, Some Barbiturates, LSD and Mescaline. Schedule IV is for anabolic steroids and most of the barbiturates. Schedule V holds Propylhexedrine. Schedule VI is for precursors, which are used for producing drugs. This Schedule is divided into two classes Class A is for Ephedrine Lysergic Acid, Class B holds substances like Sulfuric Acid, Acetone and Ethyl Ether. Schedules VII and specify the amounts of Hashish and Cannabis. For Schedules VII it is 3kg Hashish or 3kg Cannabis, for Schedule VIII - 1g Hashish or 30g Cannabis.

The penalty for possession of controlled substance is treated different depending on the type of offence. If the possession is treated as an indictable offence, the penalties will be following.  We highly recommend finding a lawyer shall you find your self in such situation.  Canadian Lawyers have represented many clients facing criminal charges.  A Canadian Lawyer therefore has the expertise and most importantly has the experience to help you.  Lawyerahead.ca has the most comprehensive information on a lawyer.  Call few lawyers, talk to them, and ask how best they can help. 

Schedule I: Maximum 7 years imprisonment

Schedule II : Maximum 5 years imprisonment (if the amounts are exceeding amounts set in Schedule VIII)

Schedule III: Maximum 3 years imprisonment

In case of Schedule IV, it is not an offence to possess a Schedule IV substance for personal use, but Subsection (2) of Section (4) of the CDSA states that “no person shall seek or obtain a substance or authorization from a practitioner to obtain a substance in schedules I through IV.” Subsection (7) then states that it is an indictable offence to contravene subsection (2). Therefore, it is an indictable offence to attempt to acquire a Schedule IV substance but not an offence for possession. Section 5 provides that possession for the purpose of trafficking of a Schedule IV substance is an offence.

If the possession is treated as a summary conviction offence, the penalties will be: maximum $1000 fine for first offence and/or maximum 6 months imprisonment and maximum $2000 fine for subsequent offence and/or maximum 1 year imprisonment. In case the amounts of Hashish or Cannabis do not exceed the amounts set in Schedule VIII, a maximum fine of $1000 and/or maximum 6 months imprisonment is the only punishment for the arrested person.

As with any criminal case, we highly recommend consulting a lawyer.  People even dip into their savings to get the best represenation they can because it does affect your future and puts you at a disadvantage..

Counterfeit product can be defined as imitation of a real product that violates the production monopoly held by either a state or corporation. Counterfeit also describes the forgeries of currency and documents, and imitations of things like clothing, software, pharmaceuticals, watches, electronics, and even company logos and brands. Counterfeit can be divided into three types: counterfeiting of money, counterfeiting of documents and counterfeiting of consumer goods.

Counterfeiting of money

The counterfeiting of money is when a person or a company is producing currency without a legal sanction of the state or government. It is the most serious violation of all the three types. While this type of fraud is often used in popular culture, it actually has the worst effect on real life. Counterfeit money usually leads to more global problems like reduction of the value of real money, increase of prices due to increase of the money supply, decreasing of acceptability of the money and also forces companies to increase prices, because they are usually not reimbursed for receiving fake money . That’s why governments view this violation as a very serious threat for the economic stability of the country and for a long time the counterfeiters were punished by death.  If you are facing a similar situation consult a lawyer and see if they can help you. Lawyerahead.ca has the most comprehensive information on a lawyer, visit the site and call few lawyers and talk to them about your problem, see how best they can help you with their experience. 

conterfeit

Counterfeiting of documents

The counterfeiting of documents is often called forgery. It is a process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents, with the intent to deceive a company or a person. It is related to fraud, the crime of deceiving other using objects obtained through forgery. The documents obtained in the result of forgery are called false documents. The forgery of false documents can have various goals from faking the taxes to spreading false information about someone. The punishment also varies depending on the type of case.  Take action on this too if you are in a similar situation.  Having a criminal background can be devestating for your future and best to talk to lawyer and see if he or she has the experience to help you.

Counterfeiting of consumer goods

Today globalization has a big influence on the counterfeit manufacturing. The exact numbers of counterfeiting consumer goods can’t even be calculated. Very often the fake products are produced on the same factory with the original ones, without informing the patent holder. The counterfeiting of consumer goods is in some cases is a very dangerous type of producing fake goods. The most dangerous in this case are food and medical products. If these products are manufactured without license and any production standards can lead to health problems and even deaths. In some cases food products even contain a mix of cheaper ingredients instead of the proper ingredients. Also if electronics or machinery is produced by not corresponding to the production and safety norms, it can lead to accidents.

Apart from the legal means of punishing the manufacturers who produce the counterfeit goods, the manufacturers of the original products also change the production schemes for distributing parts of the product to various factories. It makes cloning of the products that much more harder, but it is also more risky because if one of the factories fails to deliver the ordered parts, the whole batch will be incomplete and the production process will be stopped. Also lots of manufacturers of expensive goods protect their good with additional serial numbers or holograms.  It is always safe to find a lawyer and to consult them if you are ever in a situation as such.

Very often people overlook how serious an issue can be how devastating it can be to a family.  Injuries or Deaths at work are considered to be usual tragedies in every day life.  The 28 of April in Canada is the official National Day of Morning and commemorate workers who were killed, injured or suffered illness because of these workplace related accidents and hazards.

Basing on the world reports of the International Labour Organization (ILO), each year work takes lives of more than 2 million women and men who die of work - related accidents or diseases.  In fact, work actually kills more people than wars.  The number of accidents at work is approximately 270 million per year and about 160 million workers fall victim to work-related illnesses.  Thinks like hazardous substances kill about 440,000 workers every year.  Statistically one worker dies every 15 seconds worldwide, which translates to 6,000 workers die every day.  Of course most of these accidents occur in courtries where the safety at work is low and the workers have almost no legal protection.  Here in Canada however in such events, lawyer can be contacted, especially personal injury lawyersor law firms to help the family get compensations in such events.  Though these numbers are staggering, it is not to create a negative view of work, but more of a call for people to stand up for their legal rights related to workplace accidents and wrongful deaths.  That’s why the slogan of the National Day of Mourning is “Remember the dead - fight for the living.”

It is an absolute honour to know that Canada was the first country that declared the 28th of April the annual day of remembrance in 1985 and the first country where this day was officially recognized by the government in 1991.  In 1984 Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) started the Workers’ Memorial Day, which was declared annual a year later by the Canadian Labour Congress.  The day of April 28 was chosen because the Worker’s Compensation Act was passed this day in 1914.  The United States was the 2nd courntry to recognize this day in 1989.  In the States, April 28 is the day that Occupational Safety and Health Act went into effect, so this day was also historically important.  Since 1989, this day was accepted by trade unions in the North America, Asia, Europe and Africa and since 1992 it gained a major acceptance in the UK.  today it is officially recognized by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) as International Workers’ Memorial Day.  this day is also officially recognized in Argentina, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Panama, Peru, Portugal, Spain, Thailand andin Taiwan.  Benin, Czech, Finland Hungary, Malta, Nepal, New Zealand, Romania, Singaport and UK are pursuing their governments to recognize this day.  So as you can see, the 28th of April is a global initiative supported by thousands of people that fight for the rights of workers around the world.  If you are looking for a lawyer in Canada, lawyerahead.ca has the most comprehensive information on lawyers.