Jolene Hansell

Appeal & trial lawyer | Adjunct Prof @uocommomlaw | Former @SCC_eng & @ONCA_en Clerk | @The_Jessup Coach | ballet/dog lover | Tweets are my own | She/Her

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

Proud to be recognized by my colleagues—for the third year in a row—as a 2026 Best Lawyers “One to Watch” for my appeal practice.

[ProfessorSankoff'sCDE @ProfSankoffsCDE]

CDE is excited to welcome our new expert contributors @MichaelPlaxton and @JoleneHansell. Read their takes in tomorrow’s upcoming issue of The Beacon!
CDE. Built for the defence. Trusted by the bench.
👉https://t.co/w7mIWtV1zN

[The Globe and Mail @globeandmail]

Opinion: Ontario’s Premier and police are undermining the legitimacy of the court process https://t.co/5aKTUmvjUr

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

The @uocommonlaw Jessup Moot team took the Canadian National Rounds by storm:
🥇 Canadian National Champions
🥇 Top Oral Advocate (Cameron Bailey)
🥇 1st overall combined Applicant and Respondent memorial scores
🥈2nd place Respondent memorial

Off we go the Global Finals!

[Criminal Lawyers’ Association @ClaOntario]

Ontario’s ‘atrocious’ plan for cash bail may be unconstitutional https://t.co/ZxRicjKl1N

Jessyca Greenwood, principal lawyer at Greenwood Law in Toronto and vice-president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, says this move by Ontario flies in the face of the presumption of innocence and the Charter right to a reasonable bail. She pointed to Antic, the 2017 Supreme Court of Canada case, which addressed the issue of cash bail.

“The Court said that cash bail and sureties pledging amounts of money are both equally effective, but cash bail can really reduce someone’s ability to make use of the bail that they’ve been granted.”

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

I am a female criminal defence lawyer.

I have 4 degrees. I articled at a leading Canadian defence firm and clerked at the Ontario Court of Appeal & the Supreme Court of Canada.

I am not a skirt to hide behind. I earned my place in the courtroom.

https://t.co/cFlhxjb6PQ

[WiCCD Women In Canadian Criminal Defence @WiCCD_Canada]

Procedural Challenges in NCR proceedings and involuntary NCR with Justices Jill Presser and Daniel Moore, @JoleneHansell and Jennifer Chambers on WiCCD's YouTube released today

https://t.co/xx5yDAKTs8

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

3. “Rather than contextualize
these features of the complainants’ evidence, [the expert evidence] impermissibly suggested that they were more credible because they exhibited the features the expert attributed to persons having suffered prior sexual abuse” (para. 52).

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

2. “If expert evidence on the neurobiology of trauma were to be deemed necessary for finders of fact (…) to assess gaps and defects in witnesses’ memory, this would (…) invariably increase the length, cost and complexity of many trials ” (para. 44)

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

In general, triers of fact do not need to know how the brain functions and encodes memories to assess the probative value of this evidence” (para. 38)

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

1. “The assessment of the credibility and reliability of witnesses, including those testifying about traumatic events they suffered as children (or as adults), is the daily fare of judges and is grounded in common knowledge and experience.

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

Some important comments about the admissibility of this type of expert evidence coming out of this one.

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

So proud of this result. Appeal allowed.

The trial judge erred in admitting and relying on the evidence of a trauma expert to evaluate the credibility of the complainants in this historical sexual assault case.

https://t.co/WUfvuolGtj

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

The @uocommonlaw Jessup Team took the Canadian National Rounds by storm.

Undefeated, 1st Runner Up National Champions & 4 top speakers:
✨Zoe Pekos (3rd)
✨Liam Andrews (4th)
✨Sophie Ehlebracht & Dheya Al-Saeedi (7th)

Global Rounds here we come!

#JessupMoot #AdvantageFTX

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

Made the switch. Find me on @bluesky

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

@vanessa_macd Me too!

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

Congrats to the @uocommonlaw #FDIMoot Team on an excellent showing in Berlin!

The team competed in 7 rounds against teams from Argentina, the US, China, Indonesia, Japan, and India, finishing 7th out of 150+ schools from all over world
👏👏👏

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

@lawandchocolate @tonya_ck Conditions are worse now than at the height of COVID. CECC is quadruple bunked. OCDC is triple bunked in most ranges and 75% over capacity. Lockdowns are daily due to administrative constraints.

[Jolene Hansell @JoleneHansell]

Hot off the press.
Read it in the Canadian Anthology of Mental Health Law.

[Court of Appeal for Ontario @ONCA_en]

❗️📢 2024 Opening of the Courts of Ontario

The Opening of the Courts of Ontario ceremony for 2024 will be held on Monday, September 23, 2024, at 3:30 pm.

The ceremony will feature remarks from the Chief Justice of Ontario and President of the Court of Appeal Michael Tulloch, Chief Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice Geoffrey Morawetz, and Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice Sharon Nicklas.

Chief Justice Tulloch will also present the annual Catzman Award for Professionalism and Civility.

The ceremony can be watched live at https://t.co/GQVBDDz9MK.