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Articles 1 - 30 of 36
Full-Text Articles in Law
Strategic Behaviour And Leadership Patterns Of Modern Chief Justices, C. L. Ostberg, Matthew E. Wetstein
Strategic Behaviour And Leadership Patterns Of Modern Chief Justices, C. L. Ostberg, Matthew E. Wetstein
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This study uses strategic behaviour, leadership change, and feminist theories to examine patterns of judicial activity by the three post-Charter chief justices of the Supreme Court of Canada. Building on prior scholarship, we use various methods to examine patterns of majority voting, dissenting activity, opinion writing, ideological voting, and panel size across the 1973 to 2014 period. While Chief Justices Lamer and Dickson exhibited clear patterns of task leadership, we find strong evidence of strategic change by Chief Justice McLachlin following her elevation to chief. She moved from a prolific dissenter as a puisne justice to a chief who exhibited …
Judicial Jurisdiction In Canada: The Cjpta—A Decade Of Progress, Janet Walker
Judicial Jurisdiction In Canada: The Cjpta—A Decade Of Progress, Janet Walker
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
In 2016, the Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act (“CJPTA”) marked its tenth year in force. Promulgated by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, and adopted in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, the CJPTA was developed to clarify and advance the law of judicial jurisdiction. In a symposium hosted by Osgoode Hall Law School, ten leading scholars were invited to present papers on specific questions in order to assess the promise of the CJPTA to meet the needs of Canadians in the years ahead and to provide leadership for the law in other parts of Canada. This article provides …
Residual Discretion: The Concept Of Forum Of Necessity Under The Court Jurisdiction And Proceedings Transfer Act, Michael Sobkin
Residual Discretion: The Concept Of Forum Of Necessity Under The Court Jurisdiction And Proceedings Transfer Act, Michael Sobkin
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Under section 6 of the CJPTA, a court may hear a case for which it lacks territorial competence under the statute if it is satisfied that: (1) there is no other court outside the province in which the plaintiff can commence the proceeding; or (2) the commencement of the proceeding outside the province cannot reasonably be required. Courts in provinces that have not enacted the CJPTA have grafted a similar discretion on to the common law rules of jurisdiction. This article seeks to determine the intentions of the drafters of the CJPTA in providing for this power and to discuss …
Six Of One, Half A Dozen Of The Other? Jurisdiction In Common Law Canada, Stephen G.A. Pitel
Six Of One, Half A Dozen Of The Other? Jurisdiction In Common Law Canada, Stephen G.A. Pitel
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This short article considers the central differences in the law on taking jurisdiction in civil and commercial disputes between those common law provinces that have implemented a statute on jurisdiction (British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan) and those common law provinces that rely on the common law (Alberta, Ontario, and others). It focuses on the distinction between presence and ordinary residence, the role and analysis of presumptive connecting factors for taking jurisdiction, and issues related to immovable property.
Cross-Border Transfers Of Court Proceedings, Vaughan Black
Cross-Border Transfers Of Court Proceedings, Vaughan Black
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act might easily have been two statutes rather than one. There could have been a pair of uniform acts, one delineating the territorial competence of the provinces’ superior courts and the other implementing a regime for the cross-border transfer of court proceedings. After all, these two matters are neither logically interdependent nor especially tightly linked. Part 3 of the CJPTA, dealing with transfers of proceedings, is not confined to lawsuits where the initial court takes jurisdiction under Part 2. It applies regardless of whether the initial court bases its jurisdiction on the CJPTA or …
Assessing The Impact Of Unilingualism At The Supreme Court Of Canada: Panel Composition, Assertiveness, Caseload, And Deference, Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin, Tiago Rubin
Assessing The Impact Of Unilingualism At The Supreme Court Of Canada: Panel Composition, Assertiveness, Caseload, And Deference, Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin, Tiago Rubin
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This paper is a first empirical foray in the debate concerning mandatory bilingualism for Supreme Court judges in Canada. The paper summarizes the main arguments, discusses the framing of bilingualism as a “legal” or an “identity” requirement, and uses empirical data to assess whether unilingualism has had an impact on four dimensions of the decision-making process at the Supreme Court of Canada: panel composition, assertiveness, individual caseloads and deference towards lower courts by unilingual and bilingual judges. Our results suggest that there is a correlation between the fluency in French and the first three elements but that there is no …
Three Objections To Forum Of Necessity: Global Access To Justice, International Criminal Law, And Proper Party, Sagi Peari
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
In civil procedure, the plaintiff is the one who initiates the litigation process. In which forum can he or she initiate this process? In very general terms, the Canadian rules of judicial jurisdiction provide the plaintiff with three options for jurisdiction acquisition. First, the jurisdiction can be acquired based on explicit agreement between the plaintiff and the defendant as to the identity of the forum to adjudicate the case. Second, the plaintiff can initiate the litigation in the forum that has the so-called “real and substantial connection” between it and the parties’ specific interaction under the given ground of liability …
Has The Cjpta Readied Canada For The Hague Choice Of Court Convention?, Geneviève Saumier
Has The Cjpta Readied Canada For The Hague Choice Of Court Convention?, Geneviève Saumier
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This paper examines whether the Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act has readied Canada to adopt the 2005 Hague Choice of Court Convention. Reviewing the Hague Convention as well as previous and current law and cases on forum selection clauses in common law Canada, including the very recent Supreme Court of Canada decision in Douez v Facebook, yields two conclusions. First, there are existing interpretive challenges flowing from gaps in the CJPTA with respect to jurisdictional clauses that need to be addressed. Second, the principles governing forum selection clauses in Canada are largely consistent with those put forward in the …
General Jurisdiction Over Corporate Defendants Under The Cjpta: Consistent With International Standards?, Catherine Walsh
General Jurisdiction Over Corporate Defendants Under The Cjpta: Consistent With International Standards?, Catherine Walsh
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
“General jurisdiction” refers to a court’s competence to adjudicate disputes arising out of a defendant’s activities anywhere in the world. Absent consent or submission, international instruments reserve general jurisdiction over corporations to the states in which the corporation has its registered office, centre of administration, or principal place of business. The bases of general jurisdiction under the Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act (CJPTA) are far broader and include simply having a place of business in the forum or even registering to carry on business there. This article locates the conceptual roots of the CJPTA approach in the traditional common …
Jurisdiction Motions And Access To Justice: An Ontario Tale, Gerard J. Kennedy
Jurisdiction Motions And Access To Justice: An Ontario Tale, Gerard J. Kennedy
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article investigates the access to justice concerns surrounding jurisdiction motions in Ontario, having analyzed one hundred and forty-seven jurisdiction motions decided in Ontario between 2010 and 2015. The author challenges the previously expressed view that jurisdiction motions are presently being “abused” by defendants and their counsel. He also suggests that trends in jurisdiction motions this decade point to some improvement from an access to justice perspective. Nonetheless, jurisdiction motions are frequently presenting an impediment to access to justice, with uncertainty in the law likely being the primary reason for this. The author considers potential proposals to address the access …
The Court Jurisdiction And Proceedings Transfer Act And The Hague Conference’S Judgments And Jurisdiction Projects, Joost Blom
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The Court Jurisdiction and Proceedings Transfer Act (CJPTA) codifies the substantive law of jurisdiction in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. One of the questions that may be posed by the future of the CJPTA is how the jurisdictional system that it enacts would function in relation to two potential international conventions that are contemplated by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. One, a convention on the enforcement of judgments, is in an advanced stage of negotiation and may well be adopted by the Hague Conference. It deals with jurisdiction indirectly, by defining jurisdictional standards or “filters” that must …
Dead Hands, Living Trees, Historic Compromises: The Senate Reform And Supreme Court Act References Bring The Originalism Debate To Canada, J. Gareth Morley
Dead Hands, Living Trees, Historic Compromises: The Senate Reform And Supreme Court Act References Bring The Originalism Debate To Canada, J. Gareth Morley
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Recent American debates about the relationship between the historic political compromises underlying constitutional provisions and their contemporary judicial application have been largely ignored in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada has only twice referred to originalism—and never positively. But in two 2014 decisions about how central institutions of government—the Senate and the Supreme Court of Canada itself—might be changed, the Court relied on the underlying historic political compromises to interpret the Constitution, rejecting arguments from the text or democratic principle. In this article, I consider how Canadian courts have looked to history in the past and in the 2014 decisions, …
Equality Before The Law? Evaluating Criminal Case Outcomes In Canada, Michael Trebilcock, Albert Yoon
Equality Before The Law? Evaluating Criminal Case Outcomes In Canada, Michael Trebilcock, Albert Yoon
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
One of our most strongly held ideals is that individuals receive equal treatment under the law. Incidents of wrongful conviction or wide disparities in sentencing, however, challenge this premise. While legal scholars have recently examined this premise, our understanding remains largely normative or anecdotal. Scholars have begun to identify factors that influence legal outcomes, yet this question has remained largely unexplored in Canada. This article seeks to advance this inquiry. Using unique data from both the Ontario courts and Legal Aid Ontario during 2007–2013, we find that outcomes in routine criminal cases vary in ways not summarily explained by differences …
“By The Court”: The Untold Story Of A Canadian Judicial Innovation, Peter Mccormick
“By The Court”: The Untold Story Of A Canadian Judicial Innovation, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
What do the BCE case of 2008, the Securities Reference case of 2010, the Senate Reform Reference case of 2014, and the Carter (assisted suicide) case of 2015 have in common? All are unanimous decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in which the reasons for judgment—the explanation as to why the outcome is the legally and constitutionally appropriate one—are not attributed to any specific named judge or judges on the Supreme Court, but rather to a mysterious entity called THE COURT. Very few Supreme Court decisions take this form, and there was a time not that long ago when …
Investigating Integrated Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons From New York, Jennifer Koshan
Investigating Integrated Domestic Violence Courts: Lessons From New York, Jennifer Koshan
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Extensive law and policy reforms in the area of domestic violence have occurred in the last several decades in the United States and Canada, the latest being the development of specialized domestic violence (DV) courts. DV courts typically operate in the criminal realm, particularly in Canada. A recent innovation that is relatively unique in the United States is integrated domestic violence (IDV) courts, where criminal, civil, and family matters are heard together in a one judge/one family model. This article examines the literature on DV and IDV courts in Canada and the United States, and situates these reforms in the …
The Charter's Influence Around The World, Mark Tushnet
The Charter's Influence Around The World, Mark Tushnet
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Over the past several decades, the influence of the United States Constitution and Supreme Court around the world has waned while that of the Canadian Charter and Supreme Court has increased. This article examines several reasons for these changes, including: the relative ages of the constitutions; the US Supreme Court’s recent conservatism; the Canadian Supreme Court’s role in developing the doctrine of proportionality; the US Supreme Court’s interest in originalism; differing structures of constitutional review and judicial supremacy; and the two Courts’ relative openness to transnational influences.
Interventions At The Supreme Court Of Canada: Accuracy, Affiliation, And Acceptance, Benjamin R. D. Alarie, Andrew J. Green
Interventions At The Supreme Court Of Canada: Accuracy, Affiliation, And Acceptance, Benjamin R. D. Alarie, Andrew J. Green
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Interveners make submissions in about half of the cases heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, but the motivations for and consequences of the practice are not clearly understood. Considered broadly, there are at least three functions that the practice of intervention might perform. The first possibility is that hearing from interveners might provide objectively useful information to the Court (i.e., interveners might promote the "accuracy" of the Court's decision making). A second possibility is that the practice of intervention allows interveners to provide the "best argument" for certain partisan interests that judges might want to "affiliate" with. A third …
Appealing Outcomes: A Study For The Overturn Rate Of Canada's Appellate Courts, Michael H. Lubetsky, Joshua A. Krane
Appealing Outcomes: A Study For The Overturn Rate Of Canada's Appellate Courts, Michael H. Lubetsky, Joshua A. Krane
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This commentary discusses the rate at which Canada's appellate courts are overturned by the Supreme Court of Canada. By deconstructing the overturn rate, the authors identify and compare various factors that affect the rate at which appeals are pursued, considered, and allowed. The data reveal that decisions from the British Columbia, Quebec, and Newfoundland & Labrador courts of appeal are overturned more often than those from their counterparts. Conversely, the Ontario and Saskatchewan courts of appeal exhibit overturn rates below the national average. The analysis suggests that the underlying drivers giving rise to the unusually high or low overturn rates, …
Charter Dialogue Revisited: Or "Much Ado About Metaphors", Peter W. Hogg, Allison A. Bushell Thornton, Wade K. Wright
Charter Dialogue Revisited: Or "Much Ado About Metaphors", Peter W. Hogg, Allison A. Bushell Thornton, Wade K. Wright
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article is a sequel to the 1997 article "The Charter Dialogue Between Courts and Legislatures (Or Perhaps The Charter of Rights Isn't Such A Bad Thing After All)." In the present article, the authors review various academic critiques of their "dialogue" theory, which postulates that Charter decisions striking down laws are not the last word, but rather the beginning of a "dialogue," because legislative bodies are generally able to (and generally do) enact sequel legislation that accomplishes the main objective of the unconstitutional law. The authors also examine the Supreme Court of Canada's dicta on the "dialogue" phenomenon, and …
Research Note: All But One: Solo Dissents On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, Christine M. Joseph
Research Note: All But One: Solo Dissents On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, Christine M. Joseph
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
It can be argued that the exercise of solo dissent on the Supreme Court of Canada is judicial disagreement at its apex-a single judge sitting on the highest court in the nation breaking away from his or her colleagues who have purportedly "gotten it wrong." By examining the practice of solo dissent in the Supreme Court of Canada over the last three decades, this research note provides insight into this unique form of judicial disagreement. Through construction of a typology of solo dissents, and by providing answers to important questions, such as how often judges render solo dissents and whether …
The Federal Court Of Australia's Power To Terminate Properly Instituted Class Actions, Vince Morabito
The Federal Court Of Australia's Power To Terminate Properly Instituted Class Actions, Vince Morabito
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The regime governing class actions in the Federal Court of Australia is unique, by international standards, as it does not require the formal authorisation of the Court before a proceeding may be brought and conducted as a class action. A class action may be commenced in the Federal Court as long as certain prerequisites are satisfied. Another unique aspect of this regime is that wide powers have been conferred upon the Court to terminate, as class actions, proceedings that have complied with the requirements for commencing a class action. It is the aim of this article to explore the conceptual …
Blocs, Swarms, And Outliers: Conceptualizing Disagreement On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter Mccormick
Blocs, Swarms, And Outliers: Conceptualizing Disagreement On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Almost half of the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions are not unanimous, but not all disagreement is of a kind. It makes a difference whether the panel's unanimity is broken by a single dissident, by several judges signing a single set of reasons, or by several judges each writing separately. This article examines the notion of disagreement, suggests a conceptual framework in which the various disagreement formats can be located, applies that framework to the Court's performance over the past thirty years, and concludes with some speculation as to why the Supreme Court of Canada and the United States Supreme …
Law's Expression: The Promise And Perils Of Judicial Opinion Writing In Canadian Constitutional Law, Paul Horwitz
Law's Expression: The Promise And Perils Of Judicial Opinion Writing In Canadian Constitutional Law, Paul Horwitz
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article argues that there is a link between one's theory of constitutional law, and one's judgments about style in judicial opinion writing. It identifies several special functions of the constitutional opinion, including the democratic function of responding to the counter-majoritarian difficulty through an act of public justification, and the inter-generational function of provoking a temporally extended dialogue about constitutional values. Drawing on these functions, it argues for an opinion writing style dubbed "open-textured minimalism," that seeks to resolve cases narrowly, articulate fundamental values and principles, and spark long-term debates about the underlying constitutional values supporting each decision. The author …
The Constitutional Legacy Of Chief Justice Brian Dickson, Robert J. Sharpe
The Constitutional Legacy Of Chief Justice Brian Dickson, Robert J. Sharpe
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Chief Justice Brian Dickson played a central role in the elaboration of the fundamental values of the Canadian Constitution. He took a balanced approach to federalism, favouring neither federal nor provincial claims and inviting cooperation through overlapping jurisdiction. Dickson transformed the rule of law from a background value to an operative constitutional principle. His judgments on the rights of minorities reflect a remarkable empathy for the plight of the disadvantaged. Democracy informed all aspects of his constitutional thinking. Dickson rejected the contention that judicial review is anti-democratic, and his constitutional legacy reflects a sustained effort to harmonize all four fundament …
L'Indépendance Judiciaire Et La Cour Suprême: Reconstruction Historique Douteuse Et Théorie Constitutionnelle De Complaisance, Jean Leclair, Yves-Marie Morissette
L'Indépendance Judiciaire Et La Cour Suprême: Reconstruction Historique Douteuse Et Théorie Constitutionnelle De Complaisance, Jean Leclair, Yves-Marie Morissette
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The recent decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the Reference re: Remuneration of Judges in the Provincial Court of Prince Edward Island has given judicial independence a surprising interpretation. A majority of the Court stated that this principle requires legislative bodies to establish independent procedures for setting judicial salaries. The Court maintained that the basis of judicial independence is to be found in the preamble of the Constitution Act, 1867, rather than the express provisions of the constitutional text. The authors argue in Part I of this article that the Court transformed fundamentally and without reason traditional conceptions …
Birds Of A Feather: Alliances And Influences On The Lamer Court 1990-1997, Peter Mccormick
Birds Of A Feather: Alliances And Influences On The Lamer Court 1990-1997, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The Supreme Court does not always speak with a single voice; for many decisions, there are judges who register disagreement with the majority's legal reasoning or even with the outcome. Are there identifiable fault lines dividing a persisting "majority" and "minority?" Are there one or more "swing vote" judges who allow the minority some share of the decisions of the Court? And, given that the coalitions are shifting rather than rigid, which pairings of judges most frequently (or most seldom) hold together through these shifts? This paper examines the divided panel decisions of the first seven years of the Lamer …
The Charter Dialogue Between Courts And Legislatures (Or Perhaps The Charter Of Rights Isn't Such A Bad Thing After All), Peter W. Hogg, Allison A. Bushell
The Charter Dialogue Between Courts And Legislatures (Or Perhaps The Charter Of Rights Isn't Such A Bad Thing After All), Peter W. Hogg, Allison A. Bushell
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article responds to the argument that judicial review of legislation under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is illegitimate because it is undemocratic. The authors show that Charter cases nearly always can be, and often are, followed by new legislation that still accomplishes the same objectives as the legislation that was struck down. The effect of the Charter is rarely to block a legislative objective, but rather to influence the design of implementing legislation. Charter cases cause a public debate in which Charter-protected rights have a more prominent role than they would have if there had been no …
Small Claims Court Cant, Seana C. Mcguire, Roderick A. Macdonald
Small Claims Court Cant, Seana C. Mcguire, Roderick A. Macdonald
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Small claims courts have traditionally been seen as a valuable institutional innovation for facilitating access to justice. In Quebec, the small claims court is particularly prized because most corporate plaintiffs may not be plaintiffs, because parties may not be represented by lawyers and because judges are to play an activist role in managing the litigation process. This article reports the findings of an empirical study of the plaintiff population of the Small Claims Court of downtown Montreal during 1992. It presents information on the socio-demographic characteristics of plaintiffs, the nature of claims brought, the dispute process followed, and the outcome …
The Supreme Court Cites The Supreme Court: Follow-Up Citation On The Supreme Court Of Canada, 1989-1993, Peter Mccormick
The Supreme Court Cites The Supreme Court: Follow-Up Citation On The Supreme Court Of Canada, 1989-1993, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Judges do not simply declare outcomes but also give reasons; in Canada, these reasons are typically organized around citations of judicial authority. Each citation acknowledges a contribution to the immediate decision; therefore, a statistical analysis of citation patterns is also a measure of judicial influence. This study considers follow-up citations of the Supreme Court of Canada over a five-year period to assess the influence of past and current members of the Court, developing appropriate discounts for the recency of the citation and for its nature and extent. The sui generis impact of the Charter suggests that these inferences cannot be …
Criminal Fault As Per The Lamer Court And The Ghost Of William Mcintyre, Michael J. Bryant
Criminal Fault As Per The Lamer Court And The Ghost Of William Mcintyre, Michael J. Bryant
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Contrary to recent criticisms to the effect that the Supreme Court of Canada favours the rights of criminal defendants and shuns the interests of the community, the Lamer Court has in fact championed the moral requisites of the community in its constitutional jurisprudence on criminal fault. By viewing rights and responsibilities as inextricably linked, the Lamer Court implicitly borrows from natural law traditions espoused by the Dickson Court's most conspicuous dissenter on criminal fault issues-Mr. Justice William McIntyre. This article argues that the tradition or philosophy underlying criminal fault as per the Lamer Court contrasts with the individualist, rights-oriented tendency …