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Osgoode Hall Law School of York University

2001

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Articles 1 - 30 of 43

Full-Text Articles in Law

Beyond Conception: Legal Determinations Of Filiation In The Context Of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Roxanne Mykitiuk Oct 2001

Beyond Conception: Legal Determinations Of Filiation In The Context Of Assisted Reproductive Technologies, Roxanne Mykitiuk

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article argues that legal determinations of filiation are normative ideological constructions about how societal relations between parents and children should be ordered. They am based upon particular understandings of the relationship between biological and social facts and, as this article demonstrates, operate to create an asymmetrical relationship between the categories between paternity and maternity I suggest that fairly recent developments in reproductive and genetic filiation have been made and offer the potential for an expanded understanding of relatedness or kinship which does not take the two-parent-one of each sex-model of the family as its normative form. While the examples …

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The Empire Of The Lone Mother: Parental Rights, Child Welfare Law, And State Restructuring, Hester Lessard Oct 2001

The Empire Of The Lone Mother: Parental Rights, Child Welfare Law, And State Restructuring, Hester Lessard

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article uses the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in G.(J.) v. New Brunswick to frame a discussion of the historical and ideological character of Canadian child welfare regimes on the nature and experience of women’s citizenship within the liberal political order and, in particular, within the current neo-liberal restructuring of welfare provision. The article also analyzes traditional understandings of the political character of child welfare in terms of state intervention and non-intervention, by placing the state ordering of parent-child relations in the context of larger issues of colonialism, gendered parenting discourses, and the linkage between child neglect and poverty. …

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Class Actions As Alternative Dispute Resolution, John C. Kleefeld Oct 2001

Class Actions As Alternative Dispute Resolution, John C. Kleefeld

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article situates the action in ADR theory by viewing it as a hybrid process that draws on both the command and consensus portions of a rational dispute resolution continuum. Class action legislation does this in a number of ways, the most important being the scope it gives to courts to approve or disapprove class settlements that have been privately negotiated by defence and class counsel. The rationale is to protect the interests of absent class members and ensure that the legislative goals of class actions-access to justice, judicial economy and behaviour modification-are well served. Class actions can thereby render …

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Mandatory Minimum Sentences And Women With Disabilities, Fiona Sampson Apr 2001

Mandatory Minimum Sentences And Women With Disabilities, Fiona Sampson

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines the issue of mandatory minimum sentencing from the unique perspective of women with disabilities. Concerns about the discriminatory application of mandatory minimum sentences are outlined and analyzed from a gendered disability perspective, as are concerns about the devaluation of the lives of persons with disabilities through the support of reduced sentences for those convicted of murdering persons with disabilities. This examination makes it clear that the different concerns of women with disabilities are difficult to reconcile, as they mandate contradictory positions with respect to the possible abolition of the sentencing practice. The challenges inherent in the development …

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Searching For Smith: The Constitutionality Of Mandatory Sentences, Kent Roach Apr 2001

Searching For Smith: The Constitutionality Of Mandatory Sentences, Kent Roach

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Canada on the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentences, from R. v. Smith to R. v. Latimer, is reviewed and assessed in light of relevant developments in constitutional law and sentencing. These include the Supreme Courts increasing interest in constitutional minimalism and corresponding reluctance to rely on hypothetical offenders and facial declarations of invalidity. The manner in which the Court's increasing concern for crime victims and fault levels has been used to justify upholding mandatory sentences is examined. The author also relates this jurisprudence to trends in sentencing, including an increasing acceptance of mandatory …

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The Death Penalty, Mandatory Prison Sentences, And The Eighth Amendment's Rule Against Cruel And Unusual Punishments, Jamie Cameron Apr 2001

The Death Penalty, Mandatory Prison Sentences, And The Eighth Amendment's Rule Against Cruel And Unusual Punishments, Jamie Cameron

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The text of section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit cruel and unusual punishment in language that is similar but not identical. Still, in considering constitutional restrictions on punishment, the deviations of the Supreme Court both focus on the concept of gross disproportionality between the offence committed and the state’s response. Despite the appearance of similarity, this article maintains that differences in the American law of sentencing explain why Canada ought not follow or adopt the United States approach to minimum sentences.

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Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Law And Policy, Elizabeth Sheehy Apr 2001

Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Law And Policy, Elizabeth Sheehy

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Sentencing In The States: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Julie Stewart Apr 2001

Sentencing In The States: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly, Julie Stewart

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Mandatory sentencing laws are responsible for the booming prison population in the United States. They are applied most frequently to crimes involving drugs and mandate harsh penalties of five, ten, twenty years or more behind bars for crimes involving no violence. Julie Stewart, President of the Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation (FAMM) and the sister of a marijuana user who spent five years in a federal prison, describes the unfairness of America’s sentencing policies, with a particular emphasis on the application of mandatory minimum sentences to drug-related convictions. These laws have led to a marked increase in the number of …

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The Political Attractiveness Of Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Anthony N. Doob, Carla Cesaroni Apr 2001

The Political Attractiveness Of Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Anthony N. Doob, Carla Cesaroni

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article addresses the question of why Canada still has mandatory minimum sentences despite inquiries by a number of commissions that suggest abolition. It suggests that politicians and judges alike not only promote mandatory minimum policies, but also speak about them in much the same way - as a way of fighting crime. Though the evidence is clear that mandatory minimum sentences are not an effective crime-control strategy, and actually disrupt the sensible operation of the justice system, it is apparent that the deterrence message they deliver is still functional for politicians and is rarely challenged by judges.

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Mandatory Minimum Sentences Of Imprisonment: Exploring The Consequences For The Sentencing Process, Julian V. Roberts Apr 2001

Mandatory Minimum Sentences Of Imprisonment: Exploring The Consequences For The Sentencing Process, Julian V. Roberts

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In this article, the author discusses the nature and consequences of the mandatory sentences of imprisonment created by Bill C-63 in 1995. These mandatory sentences constitute the most comprehensive collection of mandatory minima in Canadian history, and will affect significant numbers of offenders. Unlike most mandatory minima created in other jurisdictions such as Australia, England, and Wales, the legislation that created the firearms offence minima offer no provision to be invoked in exceptional cases. In this article, the author addresses the effect that these new statutory minima am likely to have on sentencing patterns It is argued that they should …

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Disarming Canadians, And Arming Them With Tolerance: Banning Firearms And Minimum Sentences To Control Violent Crime--An Essay On An Apparent Contradiction, Helene Dumont Apr 2001

Disarming Canadians, And Arming Them With Tolerance: Banning Firearms And Minimum Sentences To Control Violent Crime--An Essay On An Apparent Contradiction, Helene Dumont

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

In an article published in French in 1997, the author offered reflections on feminism and criminal law that would allow for a better control of violent crime, without Parliament having to resort to excessively severe sentences. In this respect, she argued that there was no contradiction in supporting the radical ban of firearms in Canada, while opposing a minimum sentence of four years under the Firearms Act, which currently affects approximately ten serious Criminal Code offences. After setting out her position in favour of the "disarmament" of Canadians, the author argued that minimum sentences of four years were unconstitutional. Such …

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The Nullification Of Section 718.2(E): Aggravating Aboriginal Over-Representation In Canadian Prisons, Renee Pelletier Apr 2001

The Nullification Of Section 718.2(E): Aggravating Aboriginal Over-Representation In Canadian Prisons, Renee Pelletier

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article considers the disproportionate incarceration rate of Aboriginal offenders in Canadian prisons and the effectiveness of Parliament's attempts at alleviating this problem through the enactment of section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code. This article focuses primarily on two recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions-R. v. Gladue and R. v. Wells. It is argued that the Court's narrow view of systemic factors, the Imitation it places on section 718.2(e) through its discussion of serious offences, as well as a number of practical problems inherent in the framework provided by the Court, strip the provision of its remedial intent. The article …

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Distorting The Prosecution Process: Informers, Mandatory Minimum Sentences, And Wrongful Convictions, Dianne L. Martin Apr 2001

Distorting The Prosecution Process: Informers, Mandatory Minimum Sentences, And Wrongful Convictions, Dianne L. Martin

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

As the use of mandatory minimum sentences becomes more common in Canada, it is important to consider a range of potential consequences that are neither intended nor anticipated. This article considers the implications of mandatory minimum sentences in contributing to wrongful convictions. It considers the impact of these sentences on two significant processes in the criminal justice system, plea bargaining and the development of informers, and argues that both processes are vulnerable to distortions. These distortions, which include the wrongful conviction of innocent people, can be exacerbated by the threat of mandatory minimum prison sentences. In the case of plea …

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Battered Women And Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Elizabeth Sheehy Apr 2001

Battered Women And Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Elizabeth Sheehy

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The author argues for the repeal of mandatory minimum sentences based upon their role in the distortion of defences available to battered women on trial for the homicide of their violent mates. After reviewing other legal strategies aimed at eliminating the discriminatory biases facing women who attempt to plead self-defence, and illustrating the ways in which defences to murder are distorted, she turns to the examination of the transcript of a recent murder trial for a woman who argued self-defence. The author uses the transcript to provide concrete illustrations of three ways in which self-defence is distorted by the mandatory …

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Latimer: Something Ominous Is Happening In The World Of Disabled People, H. Archibald Kaiser Apr 2001

Latimer: Something Ominous Is Happening In The World Of Disabled People, H. Archibald Kaiser

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Although the Latimer decision breaks no new substantive ground, it has created a furore over the application of the mandatory minimum sentence for murder. This article maintains that, despite the pre-existing need to examine the complex range of issues in mandatory sentences, the Latimer case provides a wholly inapposite base for revisiting this sanction. The Supreme Court of Canada properly rejected the accused's attempt to invoke the defence of necessity, as well as some procedural contentions. The Court also determined that the mandatory minimum sentence for murder was not cruel and unusual punishment as applied to the accused. The reaction …

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Sentencing The Criminal Corproation, Poonam Puri Apr 2001

Sentencing The Criminal Corproation, Poonam Puri

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article contributes to the debate on mandatory minimum sentences by analzing them in the context of the corporation as criminal and by employing a law and economics methodology. While the rational economic actor model maybe unrealistic when applied to individuals committing blue-collar crimes, it is a much more useful tool to describe the behaviour of criminal corporations that respond more directly to economic incentives. The article concludes that the mandatory fine for a corporation found guilty of a criminal offence should, at a minimum, equal the expected loss caused or profit gained from the wrongdoing.

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The Legislative History Of Mandatory Minimum Penalties Of Imprisonment In Canada, Nicole Crutcher Apr 2001

The Legislative History Of Mandatory Minimum Penalties Of Imprisonment In Canada, Nicole Crutcher

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Mandatory Minimum Prison Sentencing And Systemic Racism, Faizal R. Mirza Apr 2001

Mandatory Minimum Prison Sentencing And Systemic Racism, Faizal R. Mirza

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article discusses the relationship between racist policing, the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and the disproportionate imposition of mandatory prison sentences on Black-Canadians It argues that the retention and expansion of mandatory prison sentences for serious offences will serve as a powerful means to perpetuate systemic racism in the criminal justice system. Reporting and applying surveys on systemic racism in the criminal justice system, the article sets out to demonstrate that mandatory prison sentences enhance the quasi-judicial role of prosecutors, providing Crown attorneys with greater leverage to convict a disproportionate number of Black persons. In addition, it argues that if …

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Aboriginal Peoples And Mandatory Sentencing, Larry N. Chartrand Apr 2001

Aboriginal Peoples And Mandatory Sentencing, Larry N. Chartrand

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

The author examines the impact of mandatory minimum sentencing on Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Emphasis is placed on the recently enacted mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for firearms offenses. The author argues that the enactment of such provisions are inconsistent with Parliament's objectives as reflected in section 718.2(e) of the Criminal Code which requires sentencing judges to pay "particular attention to the circumstances of Aboriginal offenders." In addition, the author explores preliminary arguments to support a finding that mandatory minimum sentences applied to Aboriginal offenders violate sections 12 and 15 of the Charter.

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Rethinking The Sentencing Regime For Murder, Isabel Grant Apr 2001

Rethinking The Sentencing Regime For Murder, Isabel Grant

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article reviews the current sentencing regime for the crime of murder in Canada with a view to identifying its shortcomings and suggesting possibilities for improvement. The article argues that the existing classification of murder into first- and second-degree, and the harsh periods of parole ineligibility attached to a murder conviction should both be abolished. The author argues for a compromise position, which would maintain the important distinction between manslaughter and murder and yet allow sufficient flexibility for trial judges to ensure that sentences for murder, as with other crimes, can be tailored to fit the crime.

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Book Review: Due Process And Victims' Rights: The New Law And Politics Of Criminal Justice, By Kent Roach, Rosanna Langer Apr 2001

Book Review: Due Process And Victims' Rights: The New Law And Politics Of Criminal Justice, By Kent Roach, Rosanna Langer

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Book Review: Punishment In Disguise: Penal Governance And Federal Imprisonment Of Women In Canada, By Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Amanda Glasbeek Apr 2001

Book Review: Punishment In Disguise: Penal Governance And Federal Imprisonment Of Women In Canada, By Kelly Hannah-Moffat, Amanda Glasbeek

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Evaluation Of The Ontario Mediation Program (Rule 24.1) Final Report: The First 23 Months, Robert G. Hann, Carl Baar, Lee Axon, Susan Binnie, Frederick H Zemans Mar 2001

Evaluation Of The Ontario Mediation Program (Rule 24.1) Final Report: The First 23 Months, Robert G. Hann, Carl Baar, Lee Axon, Susan Binnie, Frederick H Zemans

Books

No abstract provided.

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Hiv/Aids And Human Rights In Russia: Compliance And The Rule Of Law, William F. Flanagan Jan 2001

Hiv/Aids And Human Rights In Russia: Compliance And The Rule Of Law, William F. Flanagan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article examines Russia’s legal response to its ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Russia’s international human rights obligations are reviewed and the article then critically assesses the extent to which Russia’s current HIV/AIDS law and practice are consistent with those obligations. The paper demonstrates that most aspects of Russia’s HIV/AIDS laws are consistent with Russia’s international obligations. However, the paper also documents key parts of HIV/AIDS practice in Russia that are seriously inconsistent with both Russian HIV/AIDS law and Russia’s international human rights obligations. This inconsistency between HIV-related de jure norms and de facto practice raises the question of compliance with the …

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The Constitution Of Canada And The Conflict Of Laws, Janet Walker Jan 2001

The Constitution Of Canada And The Conflict Of Laws, Janet Walker

PhD Dissertations

This thesis explains the constitutional foundations for the conflict of laws in Canada. It locates these constitutional foundations in the text of key constitutional documents and in the history and the traditions of the courts in Canada. It compares the features of the Canadian Constitution that provide the foundation for the conflict of laws with comparable features in the constitutions of other federal and regional systems, particularly of the Constitutions of the United States and of Australia. This comparison highlights the distinctive Canadian approach to judicial authority-one that is the product of an asymmetrical system of government in which the …

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The Past And Future Of Canadian Generalist Law Journals, Bruce Ryder Jan 2001

The Past And Future Of Canadian Generalist Law Journals, Bruce Ryder

Articles & Book Chapters

The author reviews the history and evolution of Canadian university-based generalist journals. The growth in the number of these journals grew steadily from the late 1940s to the early 1970s, and then stopped abruptly. The driving force behind the establishment of these journals were local and pedagogical: they were adjuncts of students' legal education. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, most generalist journals had outgrown their original mission. They became significant venues for the publication of legal scholarship and reformulated their aims and procedures to set high scholarly standards. All of the existing university-based generalist law journals now have …

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Introduction To Torture As Tort: From Sudan To Canada To Somalia, Craig M. Scott Jan 2001

Introduction To Torture As Tort: From Sudan To Canada To Somalia, Craig M. Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

The present work is chapter 1 of the edited volume, Torture as Tort: Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Transnational Human Rights Litigation (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 2001). At the time the book was generated, the controversial nature of seeking globalised justice through national courts had become starkly apparent in the wake of the Pinochet case in which the Spanish legal system sought extradition of the former President of Chile from the United Kingdom in order to bring him to account under Spanish criminal law for a variety of alleged violations in Chile of human rights, most notably involving torture. Yet, …

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Aboriginal Rights In Transition: Reassessing Aboriginal Title And Governance, Kent Mcneil Jan 2001

Aboriginal Rights In Transition: Reassessing Aboriginal Title And Governance, Kent Mcneil

Articles & Book Chapters

In a series of important decisions, the Court has come to grips with a number of issues that it did its best to avoid in the past, involving the identification and definition of Aboriginal rights, the content of Aboriginal title to land and the requirements for proving it, and the relevance of the law of New France to Aboriginal rights today. This paper will focus on these recent developments in the law, as well as attempting to identify areas where the law of Aboriginal rights is incomplete and so requires further judicial elucidation.

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The Promise Of Certainty In The Law Of Pre-Incorporation Contracts, Poonam Puri Jan 2001

The Promise Of Certainty In The Law Of Pre-Incorporation Contracts, Poonam Puri

Articles & Book Chapters

In practice, most pre-incorporation contracts cause no difficulty for the parties who intend to benefit directly from them. In the normal course of events, once the corporation is incorporated, both the corporation and the third party perform on the contract: However, when the corporation does not come into existence, or comes into existence but refuses to adopt a contract, difficult legal issues arise in relation to the rights and liabilities of the parties? In these situations, the following questions must be -resolved: To what extent is the promoter liable on,the contract? To what extent is the corporation liable on the …

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Carbon Sinks Science And The Preservation Of Old Growth Forests Under The Kyoto Protocol, Dayna Scott Jan 2001

Carbon Sinks Science And The Preservation Of Old Growth Forests Under The Kyoto Protocol, Dayna Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

The structure of the mechanisms in the Kyoto Protocol with respect to "carbon sinks," may be integrated so as to place incentives on national governments that counter recent progress made towards the preservation of old-growth forests. A focus on the element carbon fails to recognize values other than sequestration that standing forests can provide. For example, an approach that strictly seeks to increase the rate of fixation of atmospheric carbon will favour replacing old-growth forests with monocultural plantations of trees. The international community, in implementing these mechanisms, may frustrate other environmental initiatives such as the conservation of endangered species habitat …

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