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Imagining Success For A Restorative Approach To Justice: Implications For Measurement And Evaluation, Jennifer J. Llewellyn, Bruce P. Archibald, Don Clairmont, Diane Crocker Oct 2013

Imagining Success For A Restorative Approach To Justice: Implications For Measurement And Evaluation, Jennifer J. Llewellyn, Bruce P. Archibald, Don Clairmont, Diane Crocker

Dalhousie Law Journal

Whether restorative justiceis "successful," or not, is a complex question. Attempts to answer this question by practitioners, professionals, and scholars have often been bounded by common notions of success in standard criminal justice terms. The authors of this paper suggest that ifrestorative justice is properly understood in terms of its focus on relationship, success should be measured on new and different dimensions. This paper seeks to bring a relational imagination to the scholarly effort of capturing the essence ofrestorative justice and figuring out how to assess its successes and failures. The authors offer a foundation and agenda for future research …


African Nova Scotian Restorative Justice: A Change Has Gotta Come, Michelle Y. Williams Oct 2013

African Nova Scotian Restorative Justice: A Change Has Gotta Come, Michelle Y. Williams

Dalhousie Law Journal

Anti-Black racism in the criminal justice system is a concern for people ofAfrican descent throughout the diaspora, including Nova Scotia-a province shaped by slavery and segregation. A relational theory of restorative justice suggests that a restorative approach to criminal harms could yield transformational results within and beyond the criminal justice system. Using a critical race analysis, this paper demonstrates that despite the theoretical promise, restorative justice practice in Nova Scotia has not met the needs of African Nova Scotians nor fundamentally transformed structural racism within the system. The author concludes that a culturally specific, community-led African Nova Scotian justice strategy …


A Comment On "No Comment": The Sub Judice Rule And The Accountability Of Public Officials Inthe 21st Century, Lorne Sossin, Valerie Crystal Oct 2013

A Comment On "No Comment": The Sub Judice Rule And The Accountability Of Public Officials Inthe 21st Century, Lorne Sossin, Valerie Crystal

Dalhousie Law Journal

The sub judice rule is a rule of court, a statutory rule, a Parliamentary convention and a practice that has developed in the interaction between media and public officials. At its most basic, the sub judice rule prohibits the publication of statements which may prejudice court proceedings. This study examines the nature, rationale and scope ofthe sub judice rule. The authors provide an account of the current state of the rule, and highlight areas where more clarity would be desirable. The authors propose a more coherent approach to the sub jud ice rule, more clearly rooted in the concern over …


Trauma-Informed Approaches To Law: Why Restorative Justice Must Understand Trauma And Psychological Coping, Melanie Randall, Lori Haskell Oct 2013

Trauma-Informed Approaches To Law: Why Restorative Justice Must Understand Trauma And Psychological Coping, Melanie Randall, Lori Haskell

Dalhousie Law Journal

Becoming trauma informed entails becoming more astutely aware of the ways in which people who are traumatized have their life trajectories shaped by the experience and its effects, and developing policies and practices which reflect this understanding. The idea that lawand, in particular the criminaljustice system, should be trauma informed is novel, and, as a result, quite underdeveloped. In this paper we advance the general argument that more effective, fair, intelligent, and just legal responses must work from a perspective which is trauma informed. We specifically apply this argument to legal work being carried out and developed under the rubric …


The Structure Of Dialogue: Exploring Habermas' Discourse Theory To Explain The "Magic" And Potential Of Restorative Justice Processes, Audrey L. Barrett Oct 2013

The Structure Of Dialogue: Exploring Habermas' Discourse Theory To Explain The "Magic" And Potential Of Restorative Justice Processes, Audrey L. Barrett

Dalhousie Law Journal

The theory of restorative justice has always lagged behind practice. As such, gaps in theory have developed, existed over time and continue to exist today particularly in terms of explaining the so-called "magic" that occurs within the encounter process. Byexploring the theories of Jorgen Habermas, it is suggested that new frameworks can be developed that can help theorists think about and explain the experiences central to restorative processes. This paper focuses on Habermas' theory of universal pragmatics and communicative action as a means to better understand the workings within the encounter process that give rise to common understanding, agreement, learning, …


The Effects Of Regulated Discretion On Police Referrals To Restorative Justice, Diane Crocker Oct 2013

The Effects Of Regulated Discretion On Police Referrals To Restorative Justice, Diane Crocker

Dalhousie Law Journal

The Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Program relies heavily on referrals from police who are authorized to refer a range of property and both violent and non-violent offences. Federal legislation and provincialprotocols guide referral decisions. Both are designed to ensure that police consider extra-judicial measures, including restorative justice. This article reports the findings ofa surveyof police officers on their views of restorative justice and the types of cases they consider appropriate for a referral. The findings confirm what other researchers have found about the types of cases police officers prefer to divert from mainstream criminal justice responses. Placed in the context …


Restorative Justice: Reflectionson Theory And Practice From Within The Nova Scotia Community Universityresearch Alliance, Jennifer Llewellyn, Bruce Archibald Oct 2013

Restorative Justice: Reflectionson Theory And Practice From Within The Nova Scotia Community Universityresearch Alliance, Jennifer Llewellyn, Bruce Archibald

Dalhousie Law Journal

Dear Readers, This issue of the Dalhousie Law Journal features research from the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice Community University Research Alliance (NSRJ-CURA) a collaborative research alliance involving community, government and university partners. The Schulich School ofLaw at Dalhousie University has been the intellectual home forthe NSRJ-CURA since 2006. The NSRJ-CURA has focused on research related to the conceptualization and institutionalization of a restorative approach to justice. The experience of Nova Scotia's restorative justice program which is among the world leaders in the area has served as a focal point and learning laboratory for this research.


Feeling Relational: The Use Of Buddhist Meditation In Restorative Practices, Gordon Shotwell Oct 2013

Feeling Relational: The Use Of Buddhist Meditation In Restorative Practices, Gordon Shotwell

Dalhousie Law Journal

Some theorists have argued that restorative justice can be defined as a theory of justice based on the. relationality of self-the idea that the self exists in and through its relationships with others. This account of self, while analytically compelling, conflicts with our intuitions of individuality I argue that Buddhist metaphysics provides an explanation of this conflict, and that meditation practice can help restorative justice practitioners develop an intuitive understanding of the relationality of self.


Getting Past The Gatekeepers: The Reception Of Restorative Justice Inthe Nova Scotian Criminal Justice System, Don Clairmont, Ethan Kim Oct 2013

Getting Past The Gatekeepers: The Reception Of Restorative Justice Inthe Nova Scotian Criminal Justice System, Don Clairmont, Ethan Kim

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper draws upon twelve years of multi-dimensional research and focuses on the reception of restorative justice in the criminal justice system in Nova Scotia. The paper traces the evolution of the restorative justice social movement, examining the launching and take-off phases, the impact on the police gatekeeping role, the receptivity and use of restorative justice by other criminal justice system professionals, its current level of institutionalization in the criminal justice system, and its future prospects.


The Discovery And Assimilation Of British Constitutional Law Principles In Quebec, 1764-1774, Michel Morin Oct 2013

The Discovery And Assimilation Of British Constitutional Law Principles In Quebec, 1764-1774, Michel Morin

Dalhousie Law Journal

This paper examines information available to Francophone persons regarding their rights as British subjects prior to the adoption of the Quebec Act of 1774, as well as the use they made of these concepts. The bilingual Quebec Gazette reported on legal developments in France, England, and the American colonies, including challenges to the traditional vision of governmental authority. It discussed the right to be taxed by elected representatives and the conflicts between the metropolis and the colonies. Debates about these issues are thought to have appeared in Quebec only after the beginning of the American Revolution, but they circulated earlier …


Restorative Justice And Gendered Violence? From Vaguely Hostile Skeptic To Cautious Convert: Why Feminists Should Critically Engage With Restorative Approaches To Law, Melanie Randall Oct 2013

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.


A Match Made On Earth: Getting Real About Science And The Law, Susan Haack Apr 2013

A Match Made On Earth: Getting Real About Science And The Law, Susan Haack

Dalhousie Law Journal

Modern legal systems increasingly depend on scientific testimony; but they also need somehow to ensure, so far as possible, that fact-finders aren't misled by highly speculative, poorly-conducted, or dishonestly-presented science. The Critical Common-sensist understanding of science that the author has developed in Defending Science and elsewhere sheds some light on why these interactions between law and science have proven so problematic. But Ms. Acharya's approach to these difficult issues rests on a flawed conception of the supposed "scientificmethod,"and an idea of legal "legitimacy" too weak to bear the weight she places on it; and her claim that the author "idealizes" …


Law's Treatment Of Science: From Idealization To Understanding, Nayha Acharya Apr 2013

Law's Treatment Of Science: From Idealization To Understanding, Nayha Acharya

Dalhousie Law Journal

Increasing reliance on scientific evidence in litigation has created a demand for discussions directed at enabling a legitimate interaction between science and law The article develops the notion ofprocedural legitimacy-that adherence to legal procedure maintains the legitimacy of the adjudicative system and its outcomes -and applies it to determining how best to admit and use scientific evidence. The problem of undervaluing procedural legitimacy is illustrated through a commentary on contributions to the science and law discussion of Edmond and Roach, and Haack. The author's thesis is that maintaining adjudicative legitimacy depends on procedural rules being applied as vigilantly to science …


Refining The Reasonable Apprehension Of Bias Test: Providing Judges Better Tools For Addressing Judicial Disqualification, Jula Hughes, Dean Philip Bryden Apr 2013

Refining The Reasonable Apprehension Of Bias Test: Providing Judges Better Tools For Addressing Judicial Disqualification, Jula Hughes, Dean Philip Bryden

Dalhousie Law Journal

Despite a considerable amount of litigation concerning judicial impartiality, the Canadian "reasonable apprehension of bias" test for judicial disqualification has remained fundamentally unaltered and is well accepted in the jurisprudence. Unfortunately, the application of the test continues to generate difficulties for judges who need to use it to make decisions in marginal cases. Based on previously published doctrinal and empirical research, the goal in the present contribution is to suggest modifications to the test that will better explain the existing jurisprudence and make it easier for judges to understand when recusal is or is not necessary in marginal cases. The …


Trial By Theory: A Response To Acharya's "Law's Treatment Of Science: From Idealization To Understanding", Gary Edmond, Kent Roach Apr 2013

Trial By Theory: A Response To Acharya's "Law's Treatment Of Science: From Idealization To Understanding", Gary Edmond, Kent Roach

Dalhousie Law Journal

Adopting a pragmatic and empirically sensitive approach to the use of forensic science and medicine, this essay defends Edmond and Roach's "AContextual Approach to the Admissibility of the State's Forensic Science and Medical Evidence." The authors reiterate their concerns about idealized approaches to science and expertise and question the utility of philosophically-driven and essentialist models of science for legal practice. In detail the essay explains why privileging process over outcomes in the criminal process (andeven perpetuating the dichotomy) is misguided. The authors affirm the importance of factual accuracy and the socio-institutional illegitimacy generated by wrongful convictions. Drawing upon recent inquiries …


Response To Haack And Edmond/Roach Articles, Nayha Acharya Apr 2013

Response To Haack And Edmond/Roach Articles, Nayha Acharya

Dalhousie Law Journal

I am grateful to Professors Edmond and Roach' and Professor Haack2 for their thoughtful replies to my paper, Law 's Treatment of Science: From Idealizationto Understanding.Much like my experience after reading "A Contextual Approach to the Admissibility of the State's Forensic Science and Medical Evidence,"' and Haack's contributions, 4 I have come away from reviewing Edmond and Roach and Haack's replies with a heightened awareness that the admissibility of scientific evidence is significant and complicated. Both replies have raised important concerns that have demanded further attention from me, which I turn to here. My response to Edmond and Roach's Reply …


Thresholds Of Actionable Mental Harm In Negligence: A Policy-Based Appraisal, Louise Bélanger-Hardy Apr 2013

Thresholds Of Actionable Mental Harm In Negligence: A Policy-Based Appraisal, Louise Bélanger-Hardy

Dalhousie Law Journal

Common law courts, in Canada and elsewhere, currently insist on proof of a recognizable psychiatric illness (RPI) before granting damages to plaintiffs seeking compensation for stand-alone mental harm caused by negligent acts. This article argues that the time has come to revisit this well-entrenched principle. The inquiry focuses specifically on the policy concerns underlying the current rule. As a first step, policy considerations for and against limiting the extent of actionable mental harm are canvassed and assessed. The author concludes that some of the perceived advantages of the RPI rule, in particular predictability,are debatable and that insistence on the traditional …


"Uncivil By Too Much Civility"?: Critiquing Five More Years Of Civility Regulation In Canada, Alice Woolley Apr 2013

"Uncivil By Too Much Civility"?: Critiquing Five More Years Of Civility Regulation In Canada, Alice Woolley

Dalhousie Law Journal

The author revisits criticisms of the civility movement made in an earlier paper ("Does Civility Matter?" (2008) 46 Osgoode Hall LJ 175). She argues that Canadian law societies remain concerned with lawyer incivility, despite bringing surprisingly few formal prosecutions against lawyers for incivility. In a few cases the law societies' concern can be justified insofar as lawyer incivility in those cases appears to correlate with serious professional dysfunction. Generally however, the focus on incivility is counter-productive. First, in several cases the focus on lawyer incivility elides the complex and difficult ethical issues raised by the behaviour of the lawyers in …


Oscola, The Oxford Standard For Citation Of Legal Authorities, John Kleefeld Apr 2013

Oscola, The Oxford Standard For Citation Of Legal Authorities, John Kleefeld

Dalhousie Law Journal

With the publication of the fourth edition of OSCOLA (the first being in 2000), the Oscolites, if I may adopt such a term, have issued an implicit challenge to other contenders in the world of legal citation. I suggest that the challenge has four prongs. The first aims at what may be called the "hegemony of uniformity."' The second, at a tendency to what Judge Posner has declaimed as "hypertrophy" in the size of legal citation manuals. The third, at barriers to accessing such manuals. And the fourth prong, gentler and more tentative than the other three, at the notion …


Costs Immunity: Banishing The 'Bane' Of Costs From Public Interest Litigation, Martin Twigg Apr 2013

Costs Immunity: Banishing The 'Bane' Of Costs From Public Interest Litigation, Martin Twigg

Dalhousie Law Journal

For litigants raising a matter of public interest, the possibility of facing an adverse costs award if unsuccessful may act as a deterrent to pursuing their legal claim. The author evaluates a form of costs order called "costs immunity," referred to as "protective costs orders" (PCOs) in the U.K., as a means of removing the deterrent effect of costs on public interest litigants. Part Iprovides an overview of costs law in Canada. Part // reviews the various types of costs orders employed by Canadian courts to facilitate access to justice in public interest litigation. Part Ill explores the English experience …


"The Harshness And Injustice Of The Common Law Rule... Has Frequenly Been Commented Upon": Debating Contributory Negligence In Canada, 1914-1949, R Blake Brown, Noelle Yhard Apr 2013

"The Harshness And Injustice Of The Common Law Rule... Has Frequenly Been Commented Upon": Debating Contributory Negligence In Canada, 1914-1949, R Blake Brown, Noelle Yhard

Dalhousie Law Journal

In the early twentieth century many legal professionals damned the law of contributory negligence as complicated and unfair to plaintiffs barred from recovery, while businesspeople often complained thatjudges and juries refused to find sympathetic plaintiffs contributorily negligent. Elite Canadian lawyers, through their work in the Canadian Bar Association and the Commission on Uniformity of Legislation in Canada, proposed model contributory negligence legislation that a number of provinces subsequently adopted. Reviews of these statutes were mixed however The large body of existing case law, despite its complications, encouraged some lawyers and judges to fall back on older jurisprudence in interpreting the …