Advocate Jan 2014

132 VOL. 72 PART 1 JANUARY 2014
THE ADVOCATE
greatly to the cost of both the prosecution
and the defence. They
ought to be abolished.
All trials should take place in the
Provincial Court, except where the
Crown seeks a punishment or the
law requires a punishment in
excess of two years. In such cases
the accused should have the option
of being tried by a superior court
and jury or by a provincial court,
no matter what the defence or the
maximum penalty, and if s/he
chooses a provincial court trial the
latter court should have the same
sentencing jurisdiction as a superior
court. S/he should also have
the right to plead guilty in the
provincial court even if a sentence
in excess of two years applies or is
sought, including life imprisonment
for murder.
All trials in the superior court
should be before a judge and jury.
Such reforms would greatly
reduce costs, expedite proceedings
and reduce stress on the part of the
accused and the witnesses for the
Crown.
Yours truly,
Jakob S. de Villiers, Q.C.
Victoria
Dear Sir,
Re: Legal Anecdotes & Miscellanea
(2013) 71 Advocate 943
I just read with great interest
your fine article on the Beatles litigation.
Well done! I expect that
there is a book to be written about
the perils of Paul in the courts. My
sons have a Berlin-based indie
band, Rooftop Runners, which has
played “in the seedy part of Hamburg”,
i.e., Die Reeperbahn. They
are starting out by releasing a CD
in Germany-Austria-Switzerland
through Motor Records in Berlin.
So I am sending your article to the
boys as a cautionary tale.
Yours truly,
A. Daniel G. MacIsaac
Victoria
Tell the boys to be sure to “Mach
Shau!” – Ed.
Dear Sir,
Re: Entre Nous
(2013) 71 Advocate 809 and
“Another Association with
John Diefenbaker” (2013) 71
Advocate 833
Before a bit of office time this
Saturday morning I was at Starbucks
with a coffee, a cheese bagel
and the November issue of the
Advocate. The editorial is timely,
informative and balanced, but the
pièce de résistance is Tom Berger’s
article on Dief. Reading it, I didn’t
want it to end—and not only
because I would then have to head
to the office. I have no idea how
many honours Mr. Berger has collected,
but he deserves more.
Yours truly,
Alan M. Ross
Vancouver