Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Arising from a Conflict of Interest


Effective assistance by counsel requires that counsel be competent. However, effective assistance involves more; it also requires counsel to give the accused’s cause her undivided loyalty, which is a prerequisite to proper legal representation.

R. v. W. (W.) (1995), 25 O.R. (3d) 161 (C.A.), at pp. 171-72.

To establish a lack of effective assistance based on counsel’s conflict of interest, the appellant must demonstrate

(i)           an actual conflict of interest between the respective interests represented by his counsel, and

(ii)         as a result of that conflict, some impairment of counsel’s ability to effectively represent the appellant’s interests. The appellant need not demonstrate that, but for the ineffective representation of counsel, the verdict would have been different



W. (W.), at p. 173; see also R. v. Baharloo, 2017 ONCA 362.


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