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Articles 1 - 30 of 31
Full-Text Articles in Law
Book Review: Lisa Kloppenberg, The Best Beloved Thing Is Justice: The Life Of Dorothy Wright Nelson, Patricia Mcmahon
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 …
From Principles To Rules: The Case For Statutory Rules Governing Aspects Of Judicial Disqualification, Jula Hughes, Philip Bryden
From Principles To Rules: The Case For Statutory Rules Governing Aspects Of Judicial Disqualification, Jula Hughes, Philip Bryden
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The common law “reasonable apprehension of bias” test for judicial disqualification is highly fact- and context-specific. While there are good reasons for this approach as a general proposition, it also gives rise to considerable uncertainty for both judges and litigants in considering whether or not it is appropriate for a judge to sit in a marginal case. This article explores statutory judicial disqualification regimes in the United States, Germany, and Quebec to gain insights into how statutory rules can be employed to provide greater clarity to judges and litigants who are addressing situations that have the potential to give rise …
Justice As A Rounding Error?: Evidence Of Subconscious Bias In Second-Degree Murder Sentences In Canada, Craig E. Jones, Micah B. Rankin
Justice As A Rounding Error?: Evidence Of Subconscious Bias In Second-Degree Murder Sentences In Canada, Craig E. Jones, Micah B. Rankin
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
There are few areas of law that grant judges as much discretion as the sentencing of criminal offenders. This discretion necessarily leads to concerns about the influence of biases, including those that result from subconscious processes associated with human cognition; that is to say, heuristics. In this article, the authors explore one heuristic—number preference—through an examination of all reported second degree murder parole ineligibility decisions between 1990 and 2012. Number preference leads individuals to predictably round off measurements to certain favoured numbers. The authors identify a tendency for parole ineligibility decisions to cluster around even numbers and multiples of five, …
Proportionality, Discretion, And The Roles Of Judges And Prosecutors At Sentencing, Palma Paciocco
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 …
The March Of Judicial Cosmopolitanism And The Legacy Of Enemy Combatant Case Law, Madalina Lulia Sontrop
The March Of Judicial Cosmopolitanism And The Legacy Of Enemy Combatant Case Law, Madalina Lulia Sontrop
LLM Theses
This thesis explores the concept of judicial cosmopolitanism and its prevalence in enemy combatant case law. The author draws upon the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitan law to describe judicial cosmopolitanism as form of legal discourse through which judges show a willingness to extend constitutional protections based on a contemporary, functional understanding of sovereign jurisdiction. The purpose of this work is to address the correlation between enemy combatant jurisprudence and the aforementioned understanding of judicial cosmopolitanism. It is argued that a march of judicial cosmopolitanism developed early in enemy combatant cases, and that it came to a …
Who Writes? Gender And Judgment Assignment On The Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter Mccormick
Who Writes? Gender And Judgment Assignment On The Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article poses the question: Now that women are receiving an increasing share of the seats on the Supreme Court of Canada (the Court), can we conclude with confidence that they have been admitted to full participation, with a mix of judgments—including the more significant decisions—that is fully comparable to their male colleagues? The author looks at the assignment of reasons for judgment on the Court over the last three chief justiceships, with specific reference to the relative rate of assignments to male and female judges. He finds that the male/female gap is more robust than ever, although he also …
Objective Mens Rea And Attenuated Subjectivism: Guidance From Justice Charron In R. V. Beatty, Palma Paciocco
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 …
Evaluating Federally Appointed Judges In Canada: Analyzing The Controversy, Troy Riddell, Lori Hausegger, Matthew Hennigar
Evaluating Federally Appointed Judges In Canada: Analyzing The Controversy, Troy Riddell, Lori Hausegger, Matthew Hennigar
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This commentary describes our experiences in trying to undertake a judicial performance evaluation of federally appointed judges in Canada. Some respondents were enthusiastic about the project, but others were strongly opposed to it and worried about the effects that our survey would have on judicial independence. After describing the feedback that we received and the fallout from our project, we examine the relationship between judicial performance evaluation and judicial independence. We argue that a well-conceived judicial performance evaluation does not violate judicial independence. We then explore the resistance to judicial performance evaluation in Canada, using a comparative lens. The explanation …
"Was It Something I Said?": Losing The Majority On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, 1984-2011, Peter J. Mccormick
"Was It Something I Said?": Losing The Majority On The Modern Supreme Court Of Canada, 1984-2011, Peter J. Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Appeal court judges do not just vote and run; they vote and then they explain, at length, why theirs is the most reasonable position. Since the core of explanation is persuasion, this means that between the initial conference vote and the final decision, some of the judges sometimes change their minds; and this in turn means that sometimes an initial majority becomes a minority and vice versa, something which often leaves clear footprints in the written record. This paper demonstrates that this happens more often than we might think—some 255 times for the last three Chief Justiceships, or roughly once …
Judicial Review Of Refugee Determinations: The Luck Of The Draw?, Sean Rehaag
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 …
Policy Preference Change And Appointments To The Supreme Court Of Canada, Benjamin Alarie, Andrew Green
Policy Preference Change And Appointments To The Supreme Court Of Canada, Benjamin Alarie, Andrew Green
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Canadian prime ministers appoint judges to the Supreme Court of Canada at their own discretion. This practice has been criticized as providing prime ministers with the ability to appoint judges whose policy preferences are regarded as politically congenial. We examine the Court's judgments in the post-Charter era to discern the apparent policy preferences of the judges. Our results suggest that the policy preferences of judges are not strongly associated with the political party of the prime minister and that their policy preferences shift over time in seemingly unpredictable ways. We discuss the implications of this analysis for possible reforms of …
American Citations And The Mclachlin Court: An Empirical Study, Peter Mccormick
American Citations And The Mclachlin Court: An Empirical Study, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article examines the use of American jurisprudence by the judges of the McLachlin Court, using an earlier study of such citations as a reference point. In addition to tracking overall use of American citations over time, it looks at these trends: which Canadian judges use American cases and for which types of cases; and which American cases, courts, and judges are being cited. Brief descriptions of the Supreme Court cases with the largest use of American citations precede a categorization of the results. The article confirms previous academic findings that the use of American citations have been modest, with …
Judicial Review And American Constitutional Exceptionalism, Miguel Schor
Judicial Review And American Constitutional Exceptionalism, Miguel Schor
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article challenges the conventional view of the pervasiveness of American-style judicial review. It questions why social movements contest constitutional meaning by fighting over judicial appointments in the United States, and why this strategy makes little sense in democracies that constitutionalized rights in the late twentieth century. The United States has been both a model and an anti-model in the global spread of judicial review, as the hope of Marbury (constitutionalized rights) has been tempered by the fear of Lochner [courts run amok). In reconciling Marbury and Lochner, other polities have adopted stronger mechanisms of judicial accountability that make it …
In Memoriam: Honourable Gerald Eric Le Dain, 1924-2007, Patrick J. Monahan, Harry W. Arthurs, Bruce B. Ryder
In Memoriam: Honourable Gerald Eric Le Dain, 1924-2007, Patrick J. Monahan, Harry W. Arthurs, Bruce B. Ryder
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Does A Judge's Party Of Appointment Or Gender Matter To Case Outcomes?: An Empirical Study Of The Court Of Appeal For Ontario, James Stribopoulos, Moin A. Yahya
Does A Judge's Party Of Appointment Or Gender Matter To Case Outcomes?: An Empirical Study Of The Court Of Appeal For Ontario, James Stribopoulos, Moin A. Yahya
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
A recent study by Cass Sunstein identified ideological differences in the votes cast by judges on the United States Courts of Appeals in certain types of cases. He found that these patterns varied depending on the ideology of an appellate judge's co-panelists. In this study, we undertake a similar examination of the busiest appellate court in Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario. This study collects data on the votes cast by individual judges in every reported decision between 1990 and 2003. Each case was cod6d by type, for example "criminal law," "constitutional law," or "private law." In addition, the …
The Serendipitous Solution To The Problem Of Supreme Court Appointments, Peter Mccormick
The Serendipitous Solution To The Problem Of Supreme Court Appointments, Peter Mccormick
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
No abstract provided.
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 …
Appointment Of Justice Marshall Rothstein To The Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter W. Hogg
Appointment Of Justice Marshall Rothstein To The Supreme Court Of Canada, Peter W. Hogg
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Peter Hogg, a constitutional law scholar, was retained by the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs to provide advice to the Ad Hoc Committee to Review a Nominee for the Supreme Court of Canada as to its procedures. His account of the public hearing provides an insider's viewpoint of the historic process undertaken for the appointment of Justice Rothstein. His opening remarks to the committee, appended to this commentary, set out the parameters of questioning for the hearing, but raise additional questions with regard to the appropriate limits of judicial speech.
A New Era In The Selection Of Supreme Court Judges?, Jacob Ziegel
A New Era In The Selection Of Supreme Court Judges?, Jacob Ziegel
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Parliamentary Scrutiny Of Supreme Court Nominees: A View From The United Kingdom, Kate Malleson
Parliamentary Scrutiny Of Supreme Court Nominees: A View From The United Kingdom, Kate Malleson
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
No abstract provided.
The South African Judicial Appointments Process, Penelope E. Andrews
The South African Judicial Appointments Process, Penelope E. Andrews
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
No abstract provided.
Civil Disobedience And The Law: The Role Of Legal Professionals, James Macpherson
Civil Disobedience And The Law: The Role Of Legal Professionals, James Macpherson
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Discusses the role of judges when cases of civil disobedience are brought before the court.
The Dissenting Opinion: Voice Of The Future?, Claire L'Heureux-Dube
The Dissenting Opinion: Voice Of The Future?, Claire L'Heureux-Dube
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Madame Justice L'Heureux-Dubé explores the history and the role of dissenting opinions in Canadian law. She argues that dissents contribute to the development of the law through their prophetic potential. Dissents are also fundamental elements of judicial discourse, serving to safeguard the integrity of the decisionmaking process and judicial independence. The Canadian legal tradition, like its American counterpart, provides numerous examples of why, in 1951, future Chief Justice Bora Laskin praised the "precious right" to dissent. Unanimity is not indispensable for judicial legitimacy or legal stability. In fact, the presence of judicious dissents can portray the true complexity of legal …