Ineffective assistance of counsel

The decision of the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal in R. v. Ross 2012 NSCA 56 is a useful source for the proposition that failing to advise the accused about testifying on their own behalf amounts to ineffective counsel.

Specifically, the failure to advise on whether to testify is an abject abdication of counsel's fundamental responsibility that was compounded in these circumstances of this case by the failure to positively recommend that the accused should testify.