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Top Criminal Cases 2024

Since 2020,  Professor Steven Penney and Peter Sankoff have hosted the annual Top Cases seminar each December, reviewing the highs and lows of his seminar has become a cornerstone of the Criminal Defence Essentials (CDE) calendar, consistently drawing one of our largest audiences and standing out as a highlight of the year. In 2023, we decided to add a new dimension to Top Cases by transforming it into an awards show. Alongside our usual critique and commentary, we began nominating cases for special recognition and inviting our viewers to vote on which cases they felt were most deserving.

CDE is now proud to release Professor Sankoff’s book Top Criminal Cases 2024: Tributes, Critique and Commentary, which delves more deeply into the judgments that defined 2024 in criminal law. As usual, Professor Sankoff provides his analysis of each case, and what it means for the law going forward.  In his “trademark” style, encompassing plenty of insight and wit, Professor Sankoff summarizes the biggest cases of the year, identifies why you need to  know about them, and provides tips on how to make use of them (or distinguish them) in future.

The e-book of Top Criminal Cases 2024 is already available, printed copies are expected by the end of January.

“2024 Top Cases” from Criminal Defence Essentials is a valuable resource for the busy criminal lawyer. Each year, we are presented with countless important decisions, not only from the Supreme Court of Canada, but also from other courts across the country. Keeping track of these decisions and truly understanding them can be daunting. This book provides you with a tidy summary of the cases you need to know about and keep by your side. The major issues, important holdings, and controversial aspects are clearly and succinctly identified. The analysis is sharp, concise and insightful.

The book’s greatest value is that Prof. Sankoff has included some hidden gems that might have escaped you and are worth reviewing. Did you know that the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal wrote a fascinating split decision on the competing dynamics involved with sentencing an Indigenous offender for a serious crime of intimate partner violence against an Indigenous woman? Or that the Manitoba Court of Appeal debated if recklessness could constitute the mens rea for an assault… with a dog? Perhaps you never came across the case of the “pissed-off” trial judge (his words!) and when judicial recusal should normally be expected.

Beyond important appellate decisions, Prof. Sankoff has also included some notable trial-level judgments that stood out this year as well. (Full disclosure: I was honoured to have one of mine included.) Overall, what the reader gains from this book is a thorough understanding of what happened in criminal law across Canada in 2024, and how to better prepare for what is coming next year and beyond.

This is a fabulous addition to the content available at Sankoff CDE and hopefully the first entry in an annual tradition. I highly recommend it to lawyers, judges and law students. "
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Justice Brock Jones
Ontario Court of Justice
"A timely, thoughtful and helpful analysis of the most important criminal law cases of 2024 - all written in Professor Sankoff's typically accessible (and sometimes spicy) style."
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Professor Michael Plaxton
University of Saskatchewan Faculty of Law

Top Criminal Cases 2024

Top Criminal Cases of 2024 – THE BOOK!

Pre – order your copy of Peter Sankoff’s analysis of the jurisprudential highlights and lowlights of 2024

E-book available now. Printed copies are expected by the end of January.

(final price at checkout includes the shipping costs of the printed copy). 

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