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A "Reasonable" Expectation Of Sexual Privacy Inthe Digital Age, Moira Aikenhead
A "Reasonable" Expectation Of Sexual Privacy Inthe Digital Age, Moira Aikenhead
Dalhousie Law Journal
Two Criminal Code offences, voyeurism, and the publication of intimate images without consent, were enacted toprotect Canadians' right to sexual privacy in light of invasive digital technologies. Women and girls are overwhelmingly targeted as victims for both of these offences, given the higher value placed on their non-consensual, sexualised images in an unequal society.Both offences require an analysis ofwhether the complainant was in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable expectation of privacy, and the use of this standard is potentially problematic both from a feminist standpoint and in light of the rapidly evolving technological realities of the digital age. This …
Genderfucking Non-Disclosure: Sexual Fraud, Transgender Bodies, And Messy Identities, Florence Ashley
Genderfucking Non-Disclosure: Sexual Fraud, Transgender Bodies, And Messy Identities, Florence Ashley
Dalhousie Law Journal
If I don't tell you that I was assigned male at birth, as a transgender person, can I go to jail for sexual assault by fraud? In some jurisdictionslike England or Israel, the answer is: yes. Previous arguments against this criminalisation have focused on the realness of trans people's genders: since trans men are men and trans women are women, it is not misleading for them to present as they do. Highlighting the limitationsofthis position, which doesn't fully account for the messiness ofgendered experiences, the author puts forward an argument against the criminalisation of (trans)gender history non-disclosure rooted in privacy. …
Equality And The Defence Of Provocation: Irreconcilable Differences, Isabel Grant, Debra Parkes
Equality And The Defence Of Provocation: Irreconcilable Differences, Isabel Grant, Debra Parkes
Dalhousie Law Journal
Recent amendments to the defence of provocation have limited access to the defence to those who are provoked by conduct that, if prosecuted, would have been an indictable offence punishable by at least five years imprisonment. The paper argues that these amendments are both over- and under-inclusive and fail to confront the central problem surrounding provocation which is that it privileges loss-of-control rage often in the context of male violence against women or in response to same-sex advances. The paper supports the abolition of the defence of provocation but only if mandatory minimum sentences for murder are abolished providing trial …
On Being A Second: Grace Wambolt, Legal Professionalism And 'Inter-Wave' Feminism In Nova Scotia, Elizabeth Legge
On Being A Second: Grace Wambolt, Legal Professionalism And 'Inter-Wave' Feminism In Nova Scotia, Elizabeth Legge
Dalhousie Law Journal
Grace Wambolt was the fifth female graduate of Dalhousie Law School and the second woman to practise law in Nova Scotia. She was one of the relatively few female lawyers in Canada (up to the influx of the nineteen-seventies) who practiced law following the push by the first female lawyers for the elimination of formal barriers to practice. This paper examines the similarities and differences between the "firsts" and those who followed them, primarily by looking at the life of Wambolt and her letters and speeches preserved in the Wambolt fonds located in the Nova Scotia Archives and donated by …
Restorative Justice And Gendered Violence? From Vaguely Hostile Skeptic To Cautious Convert: Why Feminists Should Critically Engage With Restorative Approaches To Law, Melanie Randall
Dalhousie Law Journal
Legalremedies for crimes ofgendered violence that are more effective, expansive, creative, victim-centred, and victim-sensitive are urgently needed. The author argues that restorative justice is one promising approach -which warrants critical engagement and, more importantly, requires input from feminists in their efforts to end violence against women. The paper concludes with some key principles and recommended directions for further engagement between feminists and proponets of restorative justice in the development of approaches to the harms of gendered violence.
Property Ownership By Married Women In Victorian Ontario, Susan Ingram, Kris Inwood
Property Ownership By Married Women In Victorian Ontario, Susan Ingram, Kris Inwood
Dalhousie Law Journal
This paper reports patterns of property holding by women and men in late nineteenth-century Ontario. We focus on the town of Guelph immediately before and after legislation in 1872 and 1884 which permitted married women to hold property in their own name. The female-held share of all property and the female share of all owners in the town increased sharply. The gains were made by married women, and even more strongly by single women and widows. However, there was little or no shift of property in nearby rural townships. We argue that an induced change in inheritance practice amplified the …
An Analysis Of Gender In Admission To The Canadian Common Law Schools From 1985-86 To 1994-95, Brian M. Mazer
An Analysis Of Gender In Admission To The Canadian Common Law Schools From 1985-86 To 1994-95, Brian M. Mazer
Dalhousie Law Journal
Using statistical data covering a ten year period, this study examines the issue of gender representation in admissions to first year law study at common law schools in Canada. After addressing three identifiable steps in the admission process-applications, offers and registration-the author concludes that while there has been progress and the gap has narrowed, the problem of gender inequality persists.
"Running Hard To Stand Still": The Paradox Of Family Law Reform, Mary Jane Mossman
"Running Hard To Stand Still": The Paradox Of Family Law Reform, Mary Jane Mossman
Dalhousie Law Journal
This essay explores the paradox of family law reform in common law Canada, focusing particularly on reforms relating to family property and inter-spousal support in the decades after the first federal Divorce Act of 1968. The paradox of this law reform activity is well-expressed in Carol Smart's colourful phrase about the (lack of) impact of law reform for women in the United Kingdom. In her view, while it is inaccurate to say that nothing has been done to improve the position of women, it is equally impossible to demonstrate that there has been any linear development of progressive legislation; in …
Siberian Tigers And Exotic Birds: Ronald Dworkin's Map Of The Sacred, Hester Lessard
Siberian Tigers And Exotic Birds: Ronald Dworkin's Map Of The Sacred, Hester Lessard
Dalhousie Law Journal
At its most abstract, Life's Dominion: An Argument about Abortion, Euthanasia, and Individual Freedom is a meditation on the nature of individual freedom. However, as author Ronald Dworkin explains at the end of Chapter One, he believes in doing philosophy in much the same way common law jurists believe in doing law-from the inside out-that is, by starting with a concrete problem and then proceeding to the more general questions raised by that problem. According to Dworkin, this generates a theory that is appropriately tailored to the issue, "Savile Row" so to speak, rather than "Seventh Avenue," and thus a …
A Comment On The Canadian Bar Association's Gender Equality Task Force Report, Dianne Pothier
A Comment On The Canadian Bar Association's Gender Equality Task Force Report, Dianne Pothier
Dalhousie Law Journal
The Canadian Bar Association's Gender Equality Task Force Report sets out to challenge the traditions of a male model of the legal profession. The title of the Report, Touchstones for Change: Equality, Diversity, and Accountability, announces the challenge. Although in a formal sense the legal profession has been open to women since well before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council acknowledged women's eligibility to be Senators, the sad truth is that, in many respects, the legal profession is still not a welcoming environment to women. While women are entering the profession in greater numbers than ever before, they are …
Psychiatric Evidence Of Sexual Assault Victims: The Need For Fundamental Change In The Determination Of Relevance, Sadie Bond
Dalhousie Law Journal
What follows is a discussion of the use of evidence of the complainant's psychiatric history in sexual assault trials. I will argue that the introduction of this evidence is sought mainly for the purpose of discrediting the complainant's testimony, as part of an "attack the victim" strategy. The admissibility of this evidence as relevant is the product of unfounded myths and sex-biased, if not misogynist, views about women. This evidence is rarely, if ever, relevant and its minimal probative value is, in most cases, far outweighed by its potential for exacerbating or perpetuating sex bias in the sexual assault trial. …
Reproductive Technology And Disability: Searching For The "Rights" And Wrongs In Explanation, Judith Mosoff
Reproductive Technology And Disability: Searching For The "Rights" And Wrongs In Explanation, Judith Mosoff
Dalhousie Law Journal
Several years ago I worked as a lawyer representing psychiatric patients on the grounds of a large medieval-looking turn-of-the-century mental hospital in British Columbia. Soon after starting my new job I met Ann, a woman who shortly after her admission as an involuntary patient had informed her treatment team that she was pregnant. She had always wanted to have a baby. When she told her doctor about her pregnancy, he decided that this idea was part of her delusional system and prescribed anti-psychotic drugs to control her pathology. In fact she was pregnant and the medication given during the first …
Discrimination In The Legal Profession, Codes Of Professional Conduct And The Duty Of Non-Discrimination, Christ Tennant
Discrimination In The Legal Profession, Codes Of Professional Conduct And The Duty Of Non-Discrimination, Christ Tennant
Dalhousie Law Journal
This paper is about discrimination in the legal profession, and about the kinds of responses to discrimination that the legal profession should be considering. I begin with a review of the various forms of discrimination which exist in the legal profession. Discrimination in the legal profession ranges from the exclusion of the members of certain groups from parts of the profession, to sexual harassment, to discrimination in our courts, to the exclusion and deprecation of the perspectives and experiences of those who have not traditionally beenin positions of power. Discrimination in the legal profession occurs against women, against aboriginal people, …
The Role Of The Judiciary In The Work Of Madame Justice Wilson, Christine Boyle
The Role Of The Judiciary In The Work Of Madame Justice Wilson, Christine Boyle
Dalhousie Law Journal
My topic is the role of the judiciary in the work of Madame Justice Wilson, but I am going to use a particular focus. I started with the famous lecture "Do Women Judges Really Make a Difference" delivered at Osgoode Hall Law School7 and it helped me think of a question. What is it that women judges might make a difference to? One answer is the law, another is judging itself. These themes were very clear in Madame Justice Wilson's lecture. Another answer, however, is the concept of woman. When women judges make a difference to law, part of what …
The Hidden Gender Of Law, Christine Boyle
The Hidden Gender Of Law, Christine Boyle
Dalhousie Law Journal
Two legal academics who set out to produce a book of materials with such a title could weave many components into it. They could explore feminist methodology, and show how much feminist legal scholarship has in common with feminist scholarship generally. They could illustrate the influence of feminist academic work on actual legal decisions and legislation. They could discuss feminist scholarship and legal education, including the dramatic developments over the last twenty years. Questions about fundamental values - equality, liberty, security, fairness - could be addressed. Materials could be included from the field of law often called Women and the …
Abortion Law In Canada: A Matter Of National Concern, Moira Mcconnell, Lorenne Clark
Abortion Law In Canada: A Matter Of National Concern, Moira Mcconnell, Lorenne Clark
Dalhousie Law Journal
Canada's newest abortion legislation, embodied in Bill C-43, was defeated in the Senate on January 31st, 1991. The Bill sought to remedy the state of "lawlessness" which has existed respecting abortion ever since the decision reached by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Morgentaler in January, 1988. However, this determination is incorrect. The law is quite clear: there is no criminal prohibition against abortion in Canada. This follows directly from the Court's holding in the Morgentaler decision that the old law, s. 287 (formerly s.251) of the Criminal Code, infringed a woman's right to security and liberty of …
Judging And Equality: For Whom Does The Chartertoll?, A Wayne Mackay
Judging And Equality: For Whom Does The Chartertoll?, A Wayne Mackay
Dalhousie Law Journal
While it may be in questionable taste to begin an article on equality with a poem that uses "man" in the global sense, John Donne's words do evoke a sense of community that feminists would applaud.' The tension between an individualistic and communitarian approach to the world is crucial to how equality will be defined in Canada. Violations of equality diminish the rights and dignity of all Canadians and not just the particular individuals or the specific groups who are the immediate victims of inequality. This recognition is only the beginning of the complex task of defining equality as guaranteed …
Prostitution And Pornography: Beyond Formalequality, Christine Boyle, Sheila Noonan
Prostitution And Pornography: Beyond Formalequality, Christine Boyle, Sheila Noonan
Dalhousie Law Journal
Both issues that are the subject of this paper raise questions relating to the meaning and application of section 15 of the Canadian Charter ofRights and Freedoms.' They provide case studies of the difficulties in putting an abstract concept, such as equality, into practical legal effect.
Equality, Ideology And Oppression: Women And Thecanadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, N Colleen Sheppard
Equality, Ideology And Oppression: Women And Thecanadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, N Colleen Sheppard
Dalhousie Law Journal
The major objective of this article is to contribute to an understanding of the potential impact of the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms2 on the lives of women. This requires an awareness of the realities of women's inequality in our society, an understanding of the legal conceptualization of equality, and a consideration of the role of "law" in remedying societal injustice. My focus in this article is on the second concern-that is, on legal theories of equality as they relate to women. I begin with a brief outline of the conflicting ideological approaches that infuse …
Judging And Equality: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?, Edward J. Mcbride
Judging And Equality: Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?, Edward J. Mcbride
Dalhousie Law Journal
"Equality," like law, politics, and life itself, displays myriad aspects. Reflections on equality, therefore, must take many differentforms, as this volume will subsequently demonstrate. Now that Canada has entrenched equality as a constitutional value, facets of the issue seem to proliferate, almost without end. Questions abound: Will the equality guarantees be confined to public action only? What constitutes public action? Will the enumerated categories protected against discrimination be supplemented by incorporation of unenumerated categories? Will a conventional liberal point of view inform the development of equality under the Charter? What part will a crystallizing feminist perspective play in the process? …
Women, Pensions And Equality, Susannah Worth Rowley
Women, Pensions And Equality, Susannah Worth Rowley
Dalhousie Law Journal
A society's values are reflected in its treatment of the elderly. The relationship of the aged to the rest of the population and the social and economic hierarchy within the aged as a group provide tangible and graphic evidence of a society's most fundamental values and attitudes. Who is rewarded and for what? What qualities and contributions are valued, and to what extent?
The Impact On Women Of Entrenchment Of Property Rights In The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, Clare F. Beckton
The Impact On Women Of Entrenchment Of Property Rights In The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms, Clare F. Beckton
Dalhousie Law Journal
On Friday, 29 April 1983 the Progressive Conservative opposition in Parliament proposed an amendment to the constitution which would change section 7 of the existing Charter to read: Everyone has the right to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. (emphasis added to identify amendment) The language used to present this amendment shows that its proponents were espousing a very traditional view of property. For example, Jake Epp said:
Home Rule For Women: Power-Sharing Between Men And Women, Christine Boyle
Home Rule For Women: Power-Sharing Between Men And Women, Christine Boyle
Dalhousie Law Journal
This paper is about the Canadian electoral system and the need for reform of its constituent units. Canadian politics have been remarkable for the comparative lack of interest that has been displayed in this aspect of the system, an aspect that is of great importance in any democratic society. In 1949, a speaker at the annual meeting of the Canadian Political Science Association in Halifax summed up the situation as follows: The basic units of representation . . . the constituencies, are thus conceived in the darkness of a legislative committee, and born to blush unseen on an electoral map …
Sexual Divisions In Law, Christine Boyle
Sexual Divisions In Law, Christine Boyle
Dalhousie Law Journal
I remember Katherine O'Donovan vividly. She was a young law lecturer at Queen's University Belfast when I was a first-year student there seventeen years ago. Law, on the whole, does not provide a large number of women to stimulate one's aspirations, but Katherine O'Donovan would have been outstanding in any context. She was clever and as beautiful as her name. She has written an outstanding book.