Dr. Donald J Netolitzky, PhD, LLM, KC (retired)
@dnetolitzky.bsky.social
An Arcanaloth masquerading as a Microbiologist masquerading as a Lawyer. For now.
Reported Scottish pseudolaw cases aren't terribly common, making this of interest:
Together Commercial Finance Ltd v Smith, [2025] SAC (Civ) 22: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/hzyppz...
It's a foreclosure appeal. Turns out declaring you're a "living man" doesn't miracle away court proceedings.
Together Commercial Finance Ltd v Smith, [2025] SAC (Civ) 22: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/hzyppz...
It's a foreclosure appeal. Turns out declaring you're a "living man" doesn't miracle away court proceedings.
November 1, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Reported Scottish pseudolaw cases aren't terribly common, making this of interest:
Together Commercial Finance Ltd v Smith, [2025] SAC (Civ) 22: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/hzyppz...
It's a foreclosure appeal. Turns out declaring you're a "living man" doesn't miracle away court proceedings.
Together Commercial Finance Ltd v Smith, [2025] SAC (Civ) 22: www.scotcourts.gov.uk/media/hzyppz...
It's a foreclosure appeal. Turns out declaring you're a "living man" doesn't miracle away court proceedings.
My recent chapter “The Sun Only Shines on YouTube: The Marginal Presence of Pseudolaw in Canada” is now available online.
Subjects include Canadian pseudolaw from the 1950s, surveying numerous groups that have risen & disappeared, Canada-specific pseudolaw concepts (few), recent & peculiar trends.
Subjects include Canadian pseudolaw from the 1950s, surveying numerous groups that have risen & disappeared, Canada-specific pseudolaw concepts (few), recent & peculiar trends.
October 4, 2025 at 3:09 AM
My recent chapter “The Sun Only Shines on YouTube: The Marginal Presence of Pseudolaw in Canada” is now available online.
Subjects include Canadian pseudolaw from the 1950s, surveying numerous groups that have risen & disappeared, Canada-specific pseudolaw concepts (few), recent & peculiar trends.
Subjects include Canadian pseudolaw from the 1950s, surveying numerous groups that have risen & disappeared, Canada-specific pseudolaw concepts (few), recent & peculiar trends.
Happy (belated) Meads v Meads day, everyone. Thirteen years! Seems like yesterday.
I'm delighted to share that judgment is still pissing off pseudolaw types. Here pseudolaw guru "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger is demanding ChatGPT reject that authority.
It doesn't.
I'm delighted to share that judgment is still pissing off pseudolaw types. Here pseudolaw guru "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger is demanding ChatGPT reject that authority.
It doesn't.
September 19, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Happy (belated) Meads v Meads day, everyone. Thirteen years! Seems like yesterday.
I'm delighted to share that judgment is still pissing off pseudolaw types. Here pseudolaw guru "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger is demanding ChatGPT reject that authority.
It doesn't.
I'm delighted to share that judgment is still pissing off pseudolaw types. Here pseudolaw guru "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger is demanding ChatGPT reject that authority.
It doesn't.
Something unusual to share - a document I authored, but that I do not "own". Back in 2016 I prepared a "Bestiary" of pseudolaw documents, 17 different classes/types/examples. This was part of my old employment as a in-house lawyer with the Alberta Court of King's Bench.
www.bc.edu/content/dam/...
www.bc.edu/content/dam/...
August 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Something unusual to share - a document I authored, but that I do not "own". Back in 2016 I prepared a "Bestiary" of pseudolaw documents, 17 different classes/types/examples. This was part of my old employment as a in-house lawyer with the Alberta Court of King's Bench.
www.bc.edu/content/dam/...
www.bc.edu/content/dam/...
Just discovered Meads v Meads has been cited not once but twice on TV Tropes!
I'd tell Rooke, but, sadly, I know he wouldn't get what a popular culture triumph that represents.
Oh, the topics?
Frivolous Lawsuit (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...) and Author Filibuster (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...).
I'd tell Rooke, but, sadly, I know he wouldn't get what a popular culture triumph that represents.
Oh, the topics?
Frivolous Lawsuit (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...) and Author Filibuster (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...).
August 7, 2025 at 1:01 AM
Just discovered Meads v Meads has been cited not once but twice on TV Tropes!
I'd tell Rooke, but, sadly, I know he wouldn't get what a popular culture triumph that represents.
Oh, the topics?
Frivolous Lawsuit (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...) and Author Filibuster (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...).
I'd tell Rooke, but, sadly, I know he wouldn't get what a popular culture triumph that represents.
Oh, the topics?
Frivolous Lawsuit (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...) and Author Filibuster (tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik...).
Most of what is written about pseudolaw comes from academics, so-called "experts" (like me!), and lawyers.
We don't often see the judicial perspective. That makes the "Sovereign citizens: ideology, impacts and judicial responses" chapter in the "Handbook for Judicial Officers" interesting.
We don't often see the judicial perspective. That makes the "Sovereign citizens: ideology, impacts and judicial responses" chapter in the "Handbook for Judicial Officers" interesting.
July 12, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Most of what is written about pseudolaw comes from academics, so-called "experts" (like me!), and lawyers.
We don't often see the judicial perspective. That makes the "Sovereign citizens: ideology, impacts and judicial responses" chapter in the "Handbook for Judicial Officers" interesting.
We don't often see the judicial perspective. That makes the "Sovereign citizens: ideology, impacts and judicial responses" chapter in the "Handbook for Judicial Officers" interesting.
Most discussion of pseudolaw is based on review of written court judgments. That misses the drastic negative effects on court staff and judges.
Those are reviewed in this recent preprint concerning Australian courts:
unsworks.unsw.edu.au/entities/pub...
Pretty alarming stuff. Worth the read.
Those are reviewed in this recent preprint concerning Australian courts:
unsworks.unsw.edu.au/entities/pub...
Pretty alarming stuff. Worth the read.
June 27, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Most discussion of pseudolaw is based on review of written court judgments. That misses the drastic negative effects on court staff and judges.
Those are reviewed in this recent preprint concerning Australian courts:
unsworks.unsw.edu.au/entities/pub...
Pretty alarming stuff. Worth the read.
Those are reviewed in this recent preprint concerning Australian courts:
unsworks.unsw.edu.au/entities/pub...
Pretty alarming stuff. Worth the read.
Just a reminder of the extent to which the Canadian legal system emphasizes accommodation.
Behold! Fursuiters (or feathersuiters) loose in the Supreme Court of Canada.
Behold! Fursuiters (or feathersuiters) loose in the Supreme Court of Canada.
May 21, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Just a reminder of the extent to which the Canadian legal system emphasizes accommodation.
Behold! Fursuiters (or feathersuiters) loose in the Supreme Court of Canada.
Behold! Fursuiters (or feathersuiters) loose in the Supreme Court of Canada.
I've just published in the Alberta Law Review what I believe is the first broad analysis of how pseudolaw is deployed in criminal litigation, in this case in Canada:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Hope you find that of interest! Questions and comments are most welcome.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Hope you find that of interest! Questions and comments are most welcome.
March 30, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I've just published in the Alberta Law Review what I believe is the first broad analysis of how pseudolaw is deployed in criminal litigation, in this case in Canada:
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Hope you find that of interest! Questions and comments are most welcome.
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
Hope you find that of interest! Questions and comments are most welcome.
Another setback for Ontario lawyer Glenn "Spirit Warrior" Bogue. He's one of the rare trained lawyers who advances pseudolaw, then suspended by the Law Society of Ontario in 2017.
Glenn does not care. He continues to attempt to appear in court. He is Metis, and therefore outside anyone's control.
Glenn does not care. He continues to attempt to appear in court. He is Metis, and therefore outside anyone's control.
March 18, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Another setback for Ontario lawyer Glenn "Spirit Warrior" Bogue. He's one of the rare trained lawyers who advances pseudolaw, then suspended by the Law Society of Ontario in 2017.
Glenn does not care. He continues to attempt to appear in court. He is Metis, and therefore outside anyone's control.
Glenn does not care. He continues to attempt to appear in court. He is Metis, and therefore outside anyone's control.
Two factually opposite privacy screen lawsuits! Canadian former lawyer Naomi Arbabi was a property owner who wanted a privacy screen removed.
Here, Australian 'Cil': Cilla‑Louise: of the Family: Carden: the living breathing woman' wants her privacy screen up.
www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Here, Australian 'Cil': Cilla‑Louise: of the Family: Carden: the living breathing woman' wants her privacy screen up.
www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
March 17, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Two factually opposite privacy screen lawsuits! Canadian former lawyer Naomi Arbabi was a property owner who wanted a privacy screen removed.
Here, Australian 'Cil': Cilla‑Louise: of the Family: Carden: the living breathing woman' wants her privacy screen up.
www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Here, Australian 'Cil': Cilla‑Louise: of the Family: Carden: the living breathing woman' wants her privacy screen up.
www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Came across another Canadian promoter, Angela Albright aka “©BOWOLIN,Angela™ Estate Appointed Agent” who operates the Sovereign By Design (sovereignbydesign.com) website.
Dates from 2020. Her website has the usual pseudolaw suite of concepts, for example duality of law, Strawman Theory.
Yawn.
Dates from 2020. Her website has the usual pseudolaw suite of concepts, for example duality of law, Strawman Theory.
Yawn.
March 12, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Came across another Canadian promoter, Angela Albright aka “©BOWOLIN,Angela™ Estate Appointed Agent” who operates the Sovereign By Design (sovereignbydesign.com) website.
Dates from 2020. Her website has the usual pseudolaw suite of concepts, for example duality of law, Strawman Theory.
Yawn.
Dates from 2020. Her website has the usual pseudolaw suite of concepts, for example duality of law, Strawman Theory.
Yawn.
I've been waiting for pseudolaw gurus to turn to LLM AIs. Sure enough, here's "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger engaging ChatGPT about Strawman Theory.
And it doesn't go terribly well, which leads to lots and lots of arguing.
Not a bad job, ChatGPT.
And it doesn't go terribly well, which leads to lots and lots of arguing.
Not a bad job, ChatGPT.
March 9, 2025 at 4:37 PM
I've been waiting for pseudolaw gurus to turn to LLM AIs. Sure enough, here's "minister" Edward Jay Robin Belanger engaging ChatGPT about Strawman Theory.
And it doesn't go terribly well, which leads to lots and lots of arguing.
Not a bad job, ChatGPT.
And it doesn't go terribly well, which leads to lots and lots of arguing.
Not a bad job, ChatGPT.
Fun pseudolaw failure in an Australian child access matter, featuring that noted North Carolina jurist of the 1700s, Lord Denning!
Yeah, you know, the other one.
Full decision here:
www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Yeah, you know, the other one.
Full decision here:
www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
March 4, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Fun pseudolaw failure in an Australian child access matter, featuring that noted North Carolina jurist of the 1700s, Lord Denning!
Yeah, you know, the other one.
Full decision here:
www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Yeah, you know, the other one.
Full decision here:
www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/view...
Super-fun academic paper comparing the Lovecraftian weirdness of law (the real law), AI and AI products, & Sovereign Citizen pseudolaw communities.
The author is a law librarian with first-hand exposure to those very interesting people. Recommended!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
And I'm cited!
The author is a law librarian with first-hand exposure to those very interesting people. Recommended!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
And I'm cited!
February 28, 2025 at 3:19 AM
Super-fun academic paper comparing the Lovecraftian weirdness of law (the real law), AI and AI products, & Sovereign Citizen pseudolaw communities.
The author is a law librarian with first-hand exposure to those very interesting people. Recommended!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
And I'm cited!
The author is a law librarian with first-hand exposure to those very interesting people. Recommended!
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....
And I'm cited!
Delighted to share publication of the first long duration activity profile of a Canadian appellate court, the BCCA.
The article link is below. Here I highlight a very unexpected result: Canadian appeal courts appeal volume has dropped dramatically in the last 25-30 years.
The article link is below. Here I highlight a very unexpected result: Canadian appeal courts appeal volume has dropped dramatically in the last 25-30 years.
February 15, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Delighted to share publication of the first long duration activity profile of a Canadian appellate court, the BCCA.
The article link is below. Here I highlight a very unexpected result: Canadian appeal courts appeal volume has dropped dramatically in the last 25-30 years.
The article link is below. Here I highlight a very unexpected result: Canadian appeal courts appeal volume has dropped dramatically in the last 25-30 years.
A judgment issued by the Alberta Court of Appeal (Akpan (Re), 2025 ABCA 47) sharply limits and perhaps eliminates trial court authority to discipline lawyers who engage in pseudolaw schemes.
I've written a detailed discussion/analysis here:
www.reddit.com/r/amibeingde...
I've written a detailed discussion/analysis here:
www.reddit.com/r/amibeingde...
February 14, 2025 at 11:26 PM
A judgment issued by the Alberta Court of Appeal (Akpan (Re), 2025 ABCA 47) sharply limits and perhaps eliminates trial court authority to discipline lawyers who engage in pseudolaw schemes.
I've written a detailed discussion/analysis here:
www.reddit.com/r/amibeingde...
I've written a detailed discussion/analysis here:
www.reddit.com/r/amibeingde...
... Skipping a step gave the SCC the basis to “quash”/end this litigation without looking into any issues.
What was the QCSC proceeding? Don’t know that either! The SCC litigation history summary is that the QCSC dismissed an application “... as the proceeding was nonexistent on its face ...”.
What was the QCSC proceeding? Don’t know that either! The SCC litigation history summary is that the QCSC dismissed an application “... as the proceeding was nonexistent on its face ...”.
January 30, 2025 at 5:18 PM
... Skipping a step gave the SCC the basis to “quash”/end this litigation without looking into any issues.
What was the QCSC proceeding? Don’t know that either! The SCC litigation history summary is that the QCSC dismissed an application “... as the proceeding was nonexistent on its face ...”.
What was the QCSC proceeding? Don’t know that either! The SCC litigation history summary is that the QCSC dismissed an application “... as the proceeding was nonexistent on its face ...”.
The Supreme Court of Canada today punted an appeal from what appears to be a Moorish law adherent, “Edwin George-El”. And, weirdly, I can’t tell you almost anything about this litigation.
Some unusual facets. First, the SCC "quashed" the candidate appeal. ...
Some unusual facets. First, the SCC "quashed" the candidate appeal. ...
January 30, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The Supreme Court of Canada today punted an appeal from what appears to be a Moorish law adherent, “Edwin George-El”. And, weirdly, I can’t tell you almost anything about this litigation.
Some unusual facets. First, the SCC "quashed" the candidate appeal. ...
Some unusual facets. First, the SCC "quashed" the candidate appeal. ...
Well, it's official. I'm now un-lawyered.
I'd be very surprised if I reverse that in the future.
I lasted almost 18 years. Exiting "The Profession" feels rather like shedding an unpleasant foreign skin. Now I can be a little more "me".
Just waiting for spring, and basking in the sun.
I'd be very surprised if I reverse that in the future.
I lasted almost 18 years. Exiting "The Profession" feels rather like shedding an unpleasant foreign skin. Now I can be a little more "me".
Just waiting for spring, and basking in the sun.
January 21, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Well, it's official. I'm now un-lawyered.
I'd be very surprised if I reverse that in the future.
I lasted almost 18 years. Exiting "The Profession" feels rather like shedding an unpleasant foreign skin. Now I can be a little more "me".
Just waiting for spring, and basking in the sun.
I'd be very surprised if I reverse that in the future.
I lasted almost 18 years. Exiting "The Profession" feels rather like shedding an unpleasant foreign skin. Now I can be a little more "me".
Just waiting for spring, and basking in the sun.
A fun "I'm divorcing myself from my Strawwoman" newspaper announcement from Australia.
(www.reddit.com/r/Sovereignc...)
"Dog latin" always kills me. Also I'd never encountered the term "kakistocracy" before.
See? Studying pseudolaw leads to an enbroading enbiggening education!
(www.reddit.com/r/Sovereignc...)
"Dog latin" always kills me. Also I'd never encountered the term "kakistocracy" before.
See? Studying pseudolaw leads to an enbroading enbiggening education!
January 19, 2025 at 3:10 PM
A fun "I'm divorcing myself from my Strawwoman" newspaper announcement from Australia.
(www.reddit.com/r/Sovereignc...)
"Dog latin" always kills me. Also I'd never encountered the term "kakistocracy" before.
See? Studying pseudolaw leads to an enbroading enbiggening education!
(www.reddit.com/r/Sovereignc...)
"Dog latin" always kills me. Also I'd never encountered the term "kakistocracy" before.
See? Studying pseudolaw leads to an enbroading enbiggening education!
I always review the Supreme Court of Canada's weekly activities Bulletin, and found the attached.
Wiseau Studios is yes, that Tommy Wiseau of "The Room" fame. This is, incidentally, his second appeal to the SCC. So what's all this about?
Wiseau Studios is yes, that Tommy Wiseau of "The Room" fame. This is, incidentally, his second appeal to the SCC. So what's all this about?
January 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM
I always review the Supreme Court of Canada's weekly activities Bulletin, and found the attached.
Wiseau Studios is yes, that Tommy Wiseau of "The Room" fame. This is, incidentally, his second appeal to the SCC. So what's all this about?
Wiseau Studios is yes, that Tommy Wiseau of "The Room" fame. This is, incidentally, his second appeal to the SCC. So what's all this about?
I'm delighted to share a new academic publication in the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, & Manipulation that examines whether pseudolaw is a conspiracy theory, and pseudolaw's adherents are conspiracy theorists.
The first answer isn't a shock. ...
The first answer isn't a shock. ...
January 15, 2025 at 2:35 AM
I'm delighted to share a new academic publication in the International Journal of Coercion, Abuse, & Manipulation that examines whether pseudolaw is a conspiracy theory, and pseudolaw's adherents are conspiracy theorists.
The first answer isn't a shock. ...
The first answer isn't a shock. ...
These hyperactive litigants engage in a remarkable volume of litigation activity. In just a few years they engage in more appellate activity than Canada’s largest corporations, except for a few banks. The most prolific, Noel Ayangma, is the subject of 129 published court and tribunal decisions.
December 28, 2024 at 4:10 PM
These hyperactive litigants engage in a remarkable volume of litigation activity. In just a few years they engage in more appellate activity than Canada’s largest corporations, except for a few banks. The most prolific, Noel Ayangma, is the subject of 129 published court and tribunal decisions.
My population study of "hyperactive" litigants, people who return to court over, and over, and over again, is now unpaywalled. These are all appellants who filed nine or more Supreme Court of Canada appeals, and were operating in 2015-2017. No comparable study exists anywhere.
December 28, 2024 at 4:08 PM
My population study of "hyperactive" litigants, people who return to court over, and over, and over again, is now unpaywalled. These are all appellants who filed nine or more Supreme Court of Canada appeals, and were operating in 2015-2017. No comparable study exists anywhere.