On July 28, 2023, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in R. v. Kahsai, 2023 SCC 20. Mr. Kahsai was a person charged with criminal offences who chose not to be represented by a lawyer at his trial. The trial judge appointed amicus. An amicus is a lawyer whose role is determined by the court, they do not represent the accused person. On appeal, Mr. Kahsai argued there was a miscarriage of justice because amicus at his trial did not advocate adequately on Mr. Kahsai’s behalf. The Supreme Court ruled there was not a
