Canadian Lawyer

Nov/Dec 2008

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50833

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 28 of 63

opinion are available to the public at the court- house. When technically feasible, said the CJC model policy, the public is also entitled to remote access to judgments and most docket information. And, increasingly, there are cameras in the courtroom. In a 2007 pilot project, the Ontario Court of Appeal posted videos of more than 20 cases. Since 1997, CPAC has carried regular broadcasts of Su- preme Court of Canada hearings. As usual, Canada is following the lead of the United States. In the September 2008 Washington Lawyer, Sarah Kel- logg reports that the U.S. Court of Ap- peals for the Seventh Circuit has a wiki, a web site that allows users to add or edit content, for its practitioner's handbook. "The court also uses RSS feeds, a mes- saging technology that notifies users when a blog or web site has been up- dated, for audio postings of court argu- ments." A number of U.S. federal courts have similar programs. And take a look at www.oyez.org, devoted to the U.S. Su- preme Court; it will even tell you where your favourite judge is buried. Kellogg argues that, faced with these and other rapid developments, traditional legal journalism is rapidly disappearing. The same can also be said about traditional notions of privacy and confidentiality. The basic rules now appear, well, hopelessly old-fashioned. They just don't seem to have much to do with reality. They don't respond to the avalanche of easily available information about ev- erything. And, likewise, much contem- porary rhetoric about privacy is beside the point. These days, anything goes. In September, a computer hacker broke into the e-mail account of Sarah Palin and posted her messages and a list of her contacts on the Internet. The culprit turned out to be a 20-year-old student at the University of Tennessee, who said the whole thing was easy. He simply reset Palin's password using her birthdate, ZIP code, information about where she met her spouse, and the security question on her Yahoo account, which he found on Google. Take a look at Wikileaks (www. wikileaks.org), whose motto is "Have documents the world needs to see? We help you get the truth out." It has a sec- tion devoted to Canada. Canute the Great, a Viking king re- omnipotent, tried to demonstrate the limits of his authority by sitting on the beach and ordering the tide not to come in. "Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings," he said following this experiment. Today one might say, let all men know how empty and worthless are the traditional notions of privacy and confidentiality. DD CL HR3rdF-04 LOE ad 10/7/08 11:14 AM Page 1 vered by his followers who thought him Philip Slayton has been dean of a law school and senior partner of a major Canadian law firm. Visit him online at philipslayton.com Need a hand? Help is here with Dye & Durham BASICSĀ® Law Office Essentials the Big Case Finally, a big case ideal for lawyers, accountants, businessmen/women, etc... Nylon pocket wheels U C PREFERRED SUPPLIER To order please quote code #90036-00 E your OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY supplier Office Supplies Office Furniture Corporate Promotional Products Printing & Graphic Services Law Office Essentials dyedurhambasics.ca 1-888-393-3874 www. OFFICE SUPPLIES FURNITURE PRINTING 1-800-263-2772 mag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 29 a D Y I n E 9 p N d & 9 C n D R m a 1 H a A n M S a 8 W e ' r e y C i o a

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Canadian Lawyer - Nov/Dec 2008