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Judgment And Opportunity: Decision Assignment On The Mclachlin Court, Peter Mccormick
Judgment And Opportunity: Decision Assignment On The Mclachlin Court, Peter Mccormick
Dalhousie Law Journal
The workload of the Supreme Court of Canada is shared among the Court's nine members, but is this sharing equal with respect to the writing of judgments? A simple count does not provide an answer because not all cases are equally important. This paper develops an objective measure of case importance-the Legal Complexity Index-and applies it to the cases decided by the McLachlin Court. It demonstrates that judgment-delivery opportunities for significant cases have not been shared equally, either overall or with respect to any of the major subdivisions of the caseload. Some judges enjoy the spotlight, while others are relegated …
Did She Mention My Name?: Citation Of Academic Authority By The Supreme Court Of Canada, 1985-1990, Vaughan Black, Nicholas Richter
Did She Mention My Name?: Citation Of Academic Authority By The Supreme Court Of Canada, 1985-1990, Vaughan Black, Nicholas Richter
Dalhousie Law Journal
Readers of court judgments will have observed that in the course of expressing reasons for the decisions they reach, judges commonly refer to books and articles written by academics. This is not surprising. Many scholarly publications contain information, arguments and opinions pertinent to the choices that judges must make, and lawyers commonly refer to such works in the written and oral arguments they present to courts. We would therefore expect the judges who must assess and respond to such arguments to make mention of that scholarly material. Moreover a certain portion of academic writing-in particular, a preponderance of law review …