Law Commons^™

Climate Finance And Transparency In The Paris Agreement - Key Current And Emerging Legal Issues, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira

Law Publications

The success of the Paris Agreement depends in large measure on the legal and operational details of the “enhanced transparency framework” under article 13, including the transparency framework for climate financial support. The transparency framework for financial support will guide how parties are to report the progress toward meeting their commitments to provide financial support for climate action in developing countries and, where support is received, on its use. Developed countries’ pledge to provide financial support to developing countries was a cornerstone of the compromise that enabled the virtually consensual global adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. This financial …

Continuing The Dialogue, Julie Macfarlane, Moya Mcalister, Rebecca Flynn

National Self Represented Litigants Project

To celebrate the 5-year anniversary of the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP), we decided to go back to where it all began.

The NSRLP was established following recommendations made at Opening the Dialogue: The SRL Phenomenon, an event following the release of Dr. Julie Macfarlane’s National Self-Represented Litigants (SRLs) Research Study. The 2013 event was a small, invitation-only stakeholder dialogue including self-represented litigants (SRLs), lawyers, policymakers, judges and academics, representing many different experiences within the legal system.

“Continuing the Dialogue” – held October 11 – 13 2018 at Windsor Law – adopted the same format, 5 years on. Attendees were …

Pintea V Johns: 18 Months Later, Kaila Scarrow, Julie Macfarlane

National Self Represented Litigants Project

In Pintea v Johns, the Supreme Court of Canada endorses the Principles established by the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) regarding self-represented litigants (Statement of Principles on Self-Represented Litigants and Accused Persons, henceforth the CJC Principles). These Principles outline the obligations and responsibilities owed by judges to SRLs and the obligations and responsibilities of SRLs when they participate in the court process. The Principles acknowledge the disadvantage SRLs are at in navigating the complexities of the legal system on their own and often facing counsel on the other side, and exhort judges to take this into consideration in managing cases and …

Pintea V Johns: 18 Months Later, Julie Macfarlane, Kaila Scarrow

Law Publications

It has been 18 months since the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Pintea v Johns.1 NSRLP’s SRL Case Law Database project is tracking the emerging jurisprudence on issues relating to the treatment and management of self-­‐‑ represented litigants by the courts, and we regard the impact of Pintea since that decision came down to be an important topic to address in our ongoing series of detailed reports. Specifically, we wanted to examine how the courts have been applying this landmark decision for self-­‐‑represented litigants since April 2017. In Pintea v Johns, the Supreme Court of Canada endorses the Principles …

Clinical And Experiential Learning In Canadian Law Schools: Current Perspectives, Gemma Smyth, Samantha Hale, Neil Gold

Law Publications

What are some of the challenges and possibilities animating modern Canadian clinical and experiential learning in law? This question was the starting point for our research, which examined two sets of data. In the first part of this project, we analyzed available information on existing clinical and experiential learning programs in Canadian law schools. This data revealed a growing quantity and variety of programs across the country. We then held qualitative interviews with deans, professors, and clinicians across Canada regarding their views of clinical and experiential learning. While the interviews suggested that many of the same financial and curricular challenges …

Substantial & Punitive Costs Awards Against Self-Represented Litigants, Julie Macfarlane, Ashley Haines

National Self Represented Litigants Project

This report focuses on decisions that award costs against SRLs: that is, when they are on the losing side. We are interested in whether there is any difference in the way a losing party is treated, and how costs against them are assessed when they are self-representing, as opposed to when they are represented by a lawyer. At NSRLP our attention was first drawn to this issue as a result of our intervention in Pintea v Johns, where an SRL who failed to attend two case management conferences was held in contempt and ordered to pay $83,000 in costs (this …

Differentiation In International Environmental Law: Has Pragmatism Displaced Considerations Of Justice?, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira

Law Publications

The Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholarly movement seeks to assess and to advance the ‘promise of international law to transform itself into a system based, not on power, but justice’, by considering how global norms impair or advance the interests of states in the Global South. This chapter seeks to contribute to the TWAIL scholarly project by examining whether international environmental law (IEL)’s norms and mechanisms have been a source of international legal innovation by challenging entrenched global socio-economic and power imbalances, making this field of law more supportive of the interests of the South. This chapter …

Substantial & Punitive Costs Awards Against Self-Represented Litigants, Julie Macfarlane, Ashley Haines

Law Publications

This report focuses on decisions that award costs against SRLs: that is, when they are on the losing side. We are interested in whether there is any difference in the way a losing party is treated, and how costs against them are assessed when they are self-representing, as opposed to when they are represented by a lawyer. At NSRLP our attention was first drawn to this issue as a result of our intervention in Pintea v Johns,3 where an SRL who failed to attend two case management conferences was held in contempt and ordered to pay $83,000 in costs (this …

Lifting The Curtain: Opening A Preliminary Examination At The International Criminal Court, Rosemary Grey, Sara Wharton

Law Publications

In the emerging literature on preliminary examinations, most scholars have focussed on issues that arise after a preliminary examination has been opened. Yet, there has been little analysis of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor’s decision to open a preliminary examination in the first place. Taking this gap in the literature as our starting point, and flagging an emerging debate in the ICC as to whether the ICC Statute envisages a ‘pre-preliminary examination’ stage at all, this article examines the law and policy which governs the opening of an ICC preliminary examination and makes the case for further critical discussion …

Copyright User Rights And Remedies: An Access To Justice Perspective, Pascale Chapdelaine

Law Publications

In contemporary copyright law, there is an ongoing debate around the nature and scope of the rights users should have to copyright works, exacerbated by ongoing technological developments. Within that debate, this article queries the value of looking at the remedies users may have against copyright holders restricting their legitimate uses of works, as a means to further elucidate the nature and scope of user rights. While there is some value in looking at remedies to situate copyright user rights, an access to justice perspective to rights and remedies suggests that such approach may be too limiting with respect to …

Is Access To Court Transcripts In Canada An A2j Issue?, Julie Macfarlane, Kaila Scarrow, Becky Robinet

National Self Represented Litigants Project

Access to Justice requires that self-represented litigants (SRLs) be able, if they wish, to obtain a record of a court proceeding they have participated in. This is to ensure they did not miss hearing something important, and are able to comprehensively review what was said in the courtroom. Court hearings habitually use legal jargon that those without legal training may not understand, and as a result, the import of what is said by either the judge or the litigants’ lawyers during the hearing may be missed. Additionally, emotions and stress levels are usually high during a hearing, and sometimes the …

Is Access To Court Transcripts In Canada An A2j Issue?, Julie Macfarlane, Kaila Scarrow, Becky Robinet

Law Publications

Access to Justice requires that self-represented litigants (SRLs) be able, if they wish, to obtain a record of a court proceeding they have participated in. This is to ensure they did not miss hearing something important, and are able to comprehensively review what was said in the courtroom. Court hearings habitually use legal jargon that those without legal training may not understand, and as a result, the import of what is said by either the judge or the litigants’ lawyers during the hearing may be missed. Additionally, emotions and stress levels are usually high during a hearing, and sometimes the …

Copyright User Rights And Access To Justice (Introduction), Pascale Chapdelaine

Law Publications

This is an introduction to selected articles published in vol. 35 of The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice (2018) further to the Symposium: "Copyright User Rights and Access to Justice" hosted by Windsor Law on May 18-19 2017. It gives a brief overview of the concept of copyright user rights and access to justice, as well as of the main themes discussed in the articles and at the Symposium, including access to knowledge and human rights.

When Judges See Srls, Do They See Gender? Observations On Gendered Characterizations In Judgment, Julie Macfarlane, Sandra Shushani

National Self Represented Litigants Project

Over 200 Canadian decisions have now been read and analyzed for the Self-Represented Litigants Case Law Database (CLD) by a research team at the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP).

As more cases have been added to the CLD, some initial observations have emerged. One of these relates to the use of language suggesting gender stereotypes in decisions that involve a female SRL.

While the sample size does not allow for a statistically significant analysis, this report describes a number of case study examples of this phenomenon within the CLD.

When Judges See Srls, Do They See Gender? Observations On Gendered Characterizations In Judgments, Julie Macfarlane, Sandra Shushani

Law Publications

Introducing the Self-Represented Litigants Case Law Database Over 200 Canadian decisions have now been read and analyzed for the Self-Represented Litigants Case Law Database (CLD) by a research team at the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP). The purpose of the Database is to track the emerging jurisprudence in all levels of courts across Canada, and to present findings that highlight patterns and themes evident within decisions reported by Canadian courts from coast to coast. Self-represented litigants, or SRLs, face a variety of obstacles and challenges throughout trial proceedings. Cases identified and analyzed in the CLD highlight four issues that the …

Costs Awards For Self-Represented Litigants, Julie Macfarlane, Lidia Imbrogno

Law Publications

Over 200 Canadian decisions have now been read, analyzed, and added to the Self-Represented Litigants Case Law Database (CLD) by researchers at the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP). The purpose of this database is to track the emerging jurisprudence at all levels of courts across Canada, as it relates to self-representation, and to present findings that highlight patterns and themes evident within decisions reported by Canadian courts from coast to coast. Self-represented litigants, or SRLs, face unique obstacles and challenges throughout trial proceedings. Cases included within the CLD focus on four issues that the NSRLP has noticed are raised with …

The Interplay Between Human Rights And Accessibility Laws: Lessons Learned And Considerations For The Planned Federal Accessibility Legislation, Laverne Jacobs

Law Publications

In this study, the author analyzes, comparatively, the administrative governance functions of legislation that provides accessibility standards in six jurisdictions that also offer legal protection from discrimination to people with disabilities: Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Manitoba and Nova Scotia. The following governance functions were examined: a) creating accessibility standards, b) enforcing accessibility standards, c) enforcing decisions,d) encouraging compliance, e) raising public awareness (and promoting systemic culture change) and f) public education. The study was conducted with a view to understanding how human rights laws, principles and values can be used to …

Exploring The Relationship Between Executive Compensation And Corporate Mergers And Acquisitions, Akiva Stern

Major Papers

Corporate Governance is one of the most important aspects of corporate life. The role requires individuals to have a moderate, if not excellent command of not only the industry they are operating within, but the basic tenants of many disciplines including law and finance. It is therefore important to not only view how these disciplines contribute to their knowledge individually, but also how they might work together to provide a better insight into governing a company on a day-to-day basis.

A predominant decision that often comes under scrutiny is the relationship between executive compensation and M&A Activity. This paper takes …

Tracking The Trends Of The Self-Represented Litigant Phenomenon: Data From The National Self-Represented Litigants Project, 2017, Kaila Scarrow, Julie Macfarlane, Becky Robinet

National Self Represented Litigants Project

From 2011-2013, Dr. Julie Macfarlane studied the experiences of self-representation in Canada in three provinces: Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta. She conducted detailed personal interviews and/or focus group interviews with 259 self-represented litigants (SRLs). After the publication of Dr. Macfarlane’s initial report in 2013, SRLs continued to contact the National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP). This led the research team to develop an “Intake Form” in SurveyMonkey, in order to continue to collect information from SRLs across Canada. While the data provided from the replies to the Intake Form is less detailed than the original study interviews, the questionnaire tracks SRL …

Contact Is A Stronger Predictor Of Attitudes Toward Police Than Race: A State-Of-The-Art Review, Amy Alberton, Kevin M. Gorey

Social Work Publications

Purpose – This scoping review thoroughly scanned research on race, contacts with police and attitudes toward police. An exploratory meta-analysis then assessed the strength of their associations and interaction in Canada and the USA. Key knowledge gaps and specific future research needs, synthetic and primary, were identified. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – A germinal methodological framework for conducting scoping reviews was used (Arksey and O’Malley, 2005). The authors searched for published or unpublished research over the past 15 years and retrieved 33 eligible surveys, 19 of which were included in a sample-weighted meta-analysis.

Findings – The …

When Climate Adaptation Is Imperative Yet Elusive: Guatemala’S Test For Climate Justice, Patricia Galvao-Ferreira

Law Publications

Guatemala perfectly illustrates the climate justice paradox: the countries that contributed least to climate change, and have lower financial and technological capacity to implement timely climate action, are often among the most vulnerable to climate impacts. Guatemala has barely contributed to greenhouse gas emissions (GhGs) that cause climate change. Yet the country is suffering from the effects of climate change. In 2005, Tropical Storm Stan caused more than 1,400 deaths, and over one half million affected in Guatemala, 70 percent of whom were indigenous peoples, causing U.S. $989 million in economic losses. In 2010, tropical storms Alex, Agatha, Frank, and …