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Full-Text Articles in Jurisprudence

Judging The Social Sciences In Carter V Canada (Ag), Jodi Lazare Jan 2016

Judging The Social Sciences In Carter V Canada (Ag), Jodi Lazare

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper examines a recent example of evidence-based decision making affecting social policy at the trial court level. It offers a close reading of Carter v Canada (AG), decided by the British Columbia Supreme Court, and of Justice Lynn Smith's careful scrutiny of the social science evidence when invalidating the Criminal Code prohibition on assistance in dying. Drawing on literature which examines the legal system's use of social science evidence and expert witnesses, this paper suggests that Justice Smith's treatment of the evidence in Carter provides an example of skilled judicial treatment of the extensive amounts of social science evidence …


Hryniak: Two Years Later: The Multiple Applications Of ‘That Summary Judgment Case’ From The Supreme Court Of Canada, Jessica Fullerton, Suzie Dunn Jan 2015

Hryniak: Two Years Later: The Multiple Applications Of ‘That Summary Judgment Case’ From The Supreme Court Of Canada, Jessica Fullerton, Suzie Dunn

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In January 2014, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Hryniak v Mauldin2 and called for a “culture shift” in the approach to summary judgment and the civil justice system more generally. With the ambitious goal of reducing protracted, costly litigation that undermines access to justice – all the while ensuring the fair and just adjudication of disputes – it is surprising that Hryniak has not garnered more attention.

Or has it? It has been nearly two years since the Supreme Court’s call for change was levied. Since that time, Hryniak has been cited more than 800 times …


Draft Provincial/Territorial Legislation To Implement A Regulatory Framework For Medically-Assisted Dying Consistent With Carter V. Canada (Attorney General) 2015 Scc 5 And The Final Report Of The Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group On Physician-Assisted Dying, Jocelyn Downie Jan 2015

Draft Provincial/Territorial Legislation To Implement A Regulatory Framework For Medically-Assisted Dying Consistent With Carter V. Canada (Attorney General) 2015 Scc 5 And The Final Report Of The Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group On Physician-Assisted Dying, Jocelyn Downie

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously declared that the Criminal Code prohibitions on physician-assisted dying (both assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia) violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They immediately suspended the declaration for 12 months thus allowing the government time to craft new legislation. This paper is a contribution to the project of meeting that deadline -- it presents draft provincial/territorial legislation. This draft legislation is based on: 1) a thorough review of existing legislation in all permissive regimes throughout the world (reviewed through a "lessons learned" lens); 2) the requirements for constitutional validity …


Learning Lessons From Multani: Considering Canada's Response To Religious Garb Issues In Public Schools, Allison N. Crawford Sep 2014

Learning Lessons From Multani: Considering Canada's Response To Religious Garb Issues In Public Schools, Allison N. Crawford

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.


Book Review Of Power Without Law: The Supreme Court Of Canada, The Marshall Decisions, And The Failure Of Judicial Activism By Alex M Cameron, Dianne Pothier Jan 2010

Book Review Of Power Without Law: The Supreme Court Of Canada, The Marshall Decisions, And The Failure Of Judicial Activism By Alex M Cameron, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

Alex Cameron’s book, Power Without Law, is a scathing critique of the Supreme Court of Canada’s 1999 decisions in R. v. Marshall upholding Donald Marshall Jr.’s Mi’kmaq treaty claim. Cameron’s book has attracted a lot of attention because of the author’s position as Crown counsel for the government of Nova Scotia. Cameron was not involved as a lawyer in the Marshall case itself. As a fisheries prosecution, Marshall was a matter of federal jurisdiction pursuant to s. 91(12) of the Constitution Act, 1867, 3 and Nova Scotia chose not to intervene. However, Cameron did become involved in a subsequent …


Twenty Years Of Labour Law And The Charter, Dianne Pothier Jan 2002

Twenty Years Of Labour Law And The Charter, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

This article critically reviews the Charter jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada relating to labour law. The rejection of the right to strike and to bargain collectively as part of freedom of association reflect substantial judicial deference to legislative policy choices. Recently, however, a constitutional right of unfair labour protection for particularly vulnerable workers shows some judicial willingness to intervene. While freedom of expression provides significant scope to union supporters, picketing and leafleting are still subject to wide restraint, the exact parameters of which remain unclear. The Charter has had only a modest effect on labour law. Even successful …


Connecting Grounds Of Discrimination To Real People's Real Experiences, Dianne Pothier Jan 2000

Connecting Grounds Of Discrimination To Real People's Real Experiences, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

From the outset, the prevailing approach to human rights statutes in Canada has been predicated on a closed list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. The early drafts of s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms likewise had a closed list of enumerated grounds, but the final version qualifies those grounds as "in particular", opening the door for a broader application of s. 15. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court of Canada, with the exception of Justice L'Heureux-Dube, has insisted that establishing a prohibited ground, either enumerated or analogous, is a requisite condition to a s. 15 breach. In the …


The United States Supreme Court And Indigenous Peoples: Still A Long Way To Go Toward A Therapeutic Role, S. James Anaya Jan 2000

The United States Supreme Court And Indigenous Peoples: Still A Long Way To Go Toward A Therapeutic Role, S. James Anaya

Publications

No abstract provided.


Contextualism: The Supreme Court's New Standard Of Judicial Analysis And Accountability, Shalin Sugunasiri Apr 1999

Contextualism: The Supreme Court's New Standard Of Judicial Analysis And Accountability, Shalin Sugunasiri

Dalhousie Law Journal

Over the past few years, the "contextual approach" to law has acquired considerable cachet in juridical discourses across the country. In the Supreme Court of Canada, contextualism is now the new standard of judicial analysis and accountability This article analyzes a decade of Supreme court jurisprudence on Charter interpretation, statutory interpretation and the common law in order to fully explicate what contextualism in law is, where it came from, and how it has achieved its current pre-eminent status. The future promise of the contextual approach is also here canvassed through a dialectical engagement with postmodernist concerns respecting inherent legal indeterminacies.


Bcgseu: Turning A Page In Canadian Human Rights Law, Dianne Pothier Jan 1999

Bcgseu: Turning A Page In Canadian Human Rights Law, Dianne Pothier

Dianne Pothier Collection

The Supreme Court of Canada's decision in British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGSEU) v. British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission)' starts like a classic Lord Denning judgment. Within the first few lines, without even knowing what the legal issue really is, you know who is going to win because of how that person is presented. Justice McLachlin's judgment, speaking for a unanimous nine-person Court, begins by noting that the grievor, Tawney Meiorin, "did her work well" but nonetheless "lost her job."' It was that dissonance that made the facts of the case compelling for reinstatement. But what …


Frozen Rights In Canada: Constitutional Interpretation And The Trickster, John Borrows Jan 1997

Frozen Rights In Canada: Constitutional Interpretation And The Trickster, John Borrows

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Constituents Of Democracy: The Individual In The Work Of Madame Justice Wilson, Danielle Pinard Jul 1992

The Constituents Of Democracy: The Individual In The Work Of Madame Justice Wilson, Danielle Pinard

Dalhousie Law Journal

I shall attempt to share with you the impression I have of Judge Wilson's conception of the individual. I will try to present a general view of what occurred to me as I went through the opinions she wrote while at the Supreme Court of Canada, alone or with the assent of her colleagues, dissenting or in agreement with the majority.' I shall try to put together, as honestly as possible, what she explicitly said on the subject in question.