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Book Review: Lisa Kloppenberg, The Best Beloved Thing Is Justice: The Life Of Dorothy Wright Nelson, Patricia Mcmahon Feb 2023

Book Review: Lisa Kloppenberg, The Best Beloved Thing Is Justice: The Life Of Dorothy Wright Nelson, Patricia Mcmahon

Articles & Book Chapters

No abstract provided.


Written Submission To The House Of Commons’ Justice And Human Rights Committee On Bill C-9: An Act To Amend The Judges Act, Craig M. Scott Nov 2022

Written Submission To The House Of Commons’ Justice And Human Rights Committee On Bill C-9: An Act To Amend The Judges Act, Craig M. Scott

Commissioned Reports, Studies and Public Policy Documents

This is a brief entered into evidence before the Canadian House of Commons’ Justice and Human Rights Committee during its consideration of Bill C-9, An Act to amend the Judges Act. Bill C-9 was introduced on First reading by the Government of Canada on December 16, 2021. The amendments in Bill C-9 concern the procedures by which the Canadian Judicial Council handles complaints of judicial misconduct. The brief argues that the Bill C-9 presents problems of transparency that undermine accountability of the judiciary in the face of concerns of misconduct. It seeks to demonstrate that Bill C-9’s effort to hide …


The 14th Annual Sir Hugh Laddie Lecture - Mr. Justice Laddie And His Intellectual Property Cases: Of Millefeuilles And A Fish Called Elvis, David Vaver Nov 2022

The 14th Annual Sir Hugh Laddie Lecture - Mr. Justice Laddie And His Intellectual Property Cases: Of Millefeuilles And A Fish Called Elvis, David Vaver

Articles & Book Chapters

For me, it was a trip through the judgments of a master craftsman who could succinctly summarize the dispute before him; weigh the conflicting evidence; say what rang true and what did not; state the applicable law, often from first principles set in their historical and policy context; and end by saying who won and lost and what to do. Copyright law might be "over-strong", as he suggested in a 1996 lecture;14 but when he had to decide whether a TV documentary critical of cheque-book journalism could freely use another channel's footage to make its point, Laddie J. said his …


Letter Of April 21, 2021, From Craig Scott To Canadian Judicial Council Review Panel In Justice David Spiro Proceeding (Cjc File 20-0260) Concerning The Reliability Of The University Of Toronto Cromwell Report & “For The Record”, Cover Note On Letter Of April 21, 2021, And On May 20, 2021, Canadian Judicial Council Disposition In Justice David Spiro Proceeding (Cjc File 20-0260) (April 21, 2021 & June 2, 2021), Craig M. Scott Jun 2021

Letter Of April 21, 2021, From Craig Scott To Canadian Judicial Council Review Panel In Justice David Spiro Proceeding (Cjc File 20-0260) Concerning The Reliability Of The University Of Toronto Cromwell Report & “For The Record”, Cover Note On Letter Of April 21, 2021, And On May 20, 2021, Canadian Judicial Council Disposition In Justice David Spiro Proceeding (Cjc File 20-0260) (April 21, 2021 & June 2, 2021), Craig M. Scott

Editorials and Commentaries

On September 20, 2020, I joined myself to a complaint filed with the Canadian Judicial Council by Professor Les Green.The complaint concerned revelations of the interference by a yet-to-be-publicly-named judge of the Tax Court of Canada into a University of Toronto Faculty of Law hiring process for a new director of its International Human Rights Program.


Law Is What The Judge Had For Breakfast: A Brief History Of An Unpalatable Idea, Dan Priel May 2020

Law Is What The Judge Had For Breakfast: A Brief History Of An Unpalatable Idea, Dan Priel

Articles & Book Chapters

According to a familiar adage the legal realists equated law with what the judge had for breakfast. As this is sometimes used to ridicule the realists, prominent defenders of legal realism have countered that none of the realists ever entertained any such idea. In this Essay I show that this is inaccurate. References to this idea are found in the work of Karl Llewellyn and Jerome Frank, as well as in the works of their contemporaries, both friends and foes. However, the Essay also shows that the idea is improperly attributed to the legal realists, as there are many references …


Replaying The Past: Roles For Emotion In Judicial Invocations Of Legislative History, And Precedent, Emily Kidd White Nov 2019

Replaying The Past: Roles For Emotion In Judicial Invocations Of Legislative History, And Precedent, Emily Kidd White

Articles & Book Chapters

Legal reasoning in the common law tradition requires judges to draw on concepts, and examples that are meant to resonate with a particular emotional import and operate in judicial reasoning as though they do. Judicial applications of constitutional rights are regularly interpreted by reference to past violations (either through precedent, contextual framings, and/or legislative history), which in turn elicit a series of emotions which work to deepen and intensify judicial understandings of a right guarantee (freedom of association, freedom of expression, equality, security of the person, etc.). This paper examines the way in which invocations of past political histories, and …


Diversity, Transparency & Inclusion In Canada’S Judiciary, Samreen Beg, Lorne Sossin Dec 2016

Diversity, Transparency & Inclusion In Canada’S Judiciary, Samreen Beg, Lorne Sossin

Articles & Book Chapters

The purpose of this paper is to provide a high level overview of some of the issues and stumbling blocks Canada has encountered in building a diverse judiciary. Part 1 of the paper begins by providing a brief overview of the heterogeneous makeup of Canadian society against the homogenous makeup of the judiciary. This will provide a helpful backdrop from which to explore conceptual questions related to the question of why a diverse judiciary matters. Part 2 examines some of the historical questions and milestones in the judiciary related to diversity. Part 3 summarizes the judicial appointments processes and takes …


Law, Politics, And Legacy Building At The Mclachlin Court In 2014, Jamie Cameron Jan 2016

Law, Politics, And Legacy Building At The Mclachlin Court In 2014, Jamie Cameron

Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series

This Article was written for Osgoode Hall Law School’s annual Constitutional Cases conference, and provides the keynote overview of the McLachlin Court’s 2014 constitutional jurisprudence. The Court’s 2014 constitutional decisions (Appointment and Senate References; Tsilqot’in Nation; Trial Lawyers) and restrictions on Mr. Big operations (Hart), in combination with a tsunami of Charter decisions early in 2015 (the 2015 Labour Trilogy; Carter v. Canada; R. v. Nur; and others), made this a legacy-building year. More than an overview, this Article probes the nature of the McLachlin Court’s legacy this year and the relationship between legal and political dynamics, to ask: in …


Proportionality, Discretion, And The Roles Of Judges And Prosecutors At Sentencing, Palma Paciocco Oct 2014

Proportionality, Discretion, And The Roles Of Judges And Prosecutors At Sentencing, Palma Paciocco

Articles & Book Chapters

The Supreme Court of Canada recently held that prosecutors are not constitutionally obligated to consider the principle of proportionality when exercising their discretion in a manner that narrows the range of available sentences: since only judges are responsible for sentencing, they alone are constitutionally required to ensure proportionality. When mandatory minimum sentences apply, however, judges have limited sentencing discretion and may be unable to achieve proportionality. If the Court takes the principle of proportionality seriously, and if it insists that only judges are constitutionally bound to enforce that principle, it must therefore create new tools whereby judges can avoid imposing …


Objective Mens Rea And Attenuated Subjectivism: Guidance From Justice Charron In R. V. Beatty, Palma Paciocco Jan 2014

Objective Mens Rea And Attenuated Subjectivism: Guidance From Justice Charron In R. V. Beatty, Palma Paciocco

Articles & Book Chapters

Justin Ronald Beatty was driving on the Trans-Canada Highway on July 23, 2003 when, for no apparent reason, his truck suddenly crossed the solid centre line and collided with an oncoming car, killing three people. Beatty was charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death. He was acquitted at trial on the grounds that his momentary lapse of attention was not enough to establish fault. The Crown appealed, and the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial after concluding that the trial judge had misapplied the fault standard. Beatty appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which undertook …


Judicial Review Of Refugee Determinations: The Luck Of The Draw?, Sean Rehaag Jan 2012

Judicial Review Of Refugee Determinations: The Luck Of The Draw?, Sean Rehaag

Articles & Book Chapters

Judicial review is often the only way to correct errors made by the Immigration and Refugee Board in refugee determinations. Applicants must seek leave from the Federal Court, where a judge will decide if their case is suitable for judicial review. The stakes are high for refugee claimants confronting deportation to countries where they may face persecution, torture or death. The author reviews over 23 000 applications for judicial review from 2005 to 2010, and finds troubling inconsistency in leave grant rates at the Federal Court. Over 36 per cent of judges deviated by more than 50 per cent from …


The Role Of A Chief Justice In Canada, Peter W. Hogg Jan 1993

The Role Of A Chief Justice In Canada, Peter W. Hogg

Articles & Book Chapters

Professor Hogg describes the duties of Chief Justices in Canadian courts, and explains that the effective discharge of their many administrative functions plays a significant role in maintaining the independence of the judiciary.