Law Commons^™

Reforming Ontario’S Family Justice System: An Evidence-Based Approach, Noel Semple, Nicholas Bala

Law Publications

This Report summarizes research about justice system responses to family disputes, makes recommendations for government action based on that empirical evidence, and identifies some as yet unanswered system design questions requiring further study. This document is provocative as it is premised on a realistic appreciation of the nature of family disputes and the limits of government action, especially in the present fiscal environment, and the fact that there are issues related to family justice that research has not adequately addressed and hence development of public policy must be undertaken in the face of uncertainty.

The Ambiguous Nature Of Copyright Users' Rights, Pascale Chapdelaine

Law Publications

In this article, I investigate the nature of exceptions to copyright infringement or users' rights. Are exceptions to copyright infringement rights or privileges? Are they mandatory? While copyright users' rights and interests have triggered interest and debate amongst scholars, relatively less attention has been given to defining their precise nature, and on the consequences of the main characteristics of exceptions to copyright infringement on copyright law and policy. I examine the interplay between the users' rights set out in the Copyright Act and how they can be altered or overridden by non-negotiated standard end-user agreements and TPMs. To this end, …

The National Self-­Represented Litigants Project: Identifying And Meeting The Needs Of Self-­Represented Litigants Final Report, Julie Macfarlane

Law Publications

The goal of this qualitative study was to develop data on the experience of self-­‐represented litigants in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Field sites in each province were used as primary data collection points, but SRL respondents also came via social media and from all over each province. In addition, service providers (court staff, duty counsel, pro bono lawyers, staff in community agencies working with SRL’s) were included in the sample. Most respondents (almost 90% of SRL’s and 100% of service providers) participated in an in-­‐depth personal interview; the remaining 10% of SRL’s participated in a focus …

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project: Identifying And Meeting The Needs Of Self-Represented Litigants Final Report, Julie Macfarlane

National Self Represented Litigants Project

The goal of this qualitative study was to develop data on the experience of self-represented litigants in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Field sites in each province were used as primary data collection points, but SRL respondents also came via social media and from all over each province. In addition, service providers (court staff, duty counsel, pro bono lawyers, staff in community agencies working with SRL’s) were included in the sample. Most respondents (almost 90% of SRL’s and 100% of service providers) participated in an in-depth personal interview; the remaining 10% of SRL’s participated in a focus …

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project: Identifying And Meeting The Needs Of Self-Represented Litigants Final Report, Julie Macfarlane

National Self Represented Litigants Project

The goal of this qualitative study was to develop data on the experience of self-represented litigants in three Canadian provinces: Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Field sites in each province were used as primary data collection points, but SRL respondents also came via social media and from all over each province. In addition, service providers (court staff, duty counsel, pro bono lawyers, staff in community agencies working with SRL’s) were included in the sample. Most respondents (almost 90% of SRL’s and 100% of service providers) participated in an in-depth personal interview; the remaining 10% of SRL’s participated in a focus …

Access To Justice: Is Legal Services Regulation Blocking The Path?, Noel Semple

Law Publications

High prices and lack of innovation have placed expert legal services beyond the reach of too many Americans and Canadians. Is legal services regulation exacerbating common law North America’s access to justice problem? Does regulatory maintenance of a unified legal profession, and insulation of that profession from non-lawyer influence, make it more difficult for people here to meet their legal needs? This article argues that, although regulatory liberalization is not a magic bullet for the accessibility of justice, there is strong evidence of a link between regulation and access. North American lawyer regulators need to understand, and work to reduce, …

Jones V Tsige: A Banking Law Perspective, Muharem Kianieff

Law Publications

This paper considers the recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Jones v Tsige. In this unprecedented case, a bank customer was allowed to sue a bank employee personally for the tort of invasion of privacy after the employee surreptitiously accessed her bank account. The case is significant due to its introduction, for the first time, of an American cause of action under the tort of invasion of privacy. In order to fashion the plaintiff with the personal remedy, however, the Court has failed to consider the application of the Tournier doctrine that has established that banks owe a duty …

The Law Of Estimates And Quantum Meruit In Canadian Small-Scale Building Contracts, Muharem Kianieff

Law Publications

This paper discusses the legal regime that governs estimates given by building contractors to owners of small businesses. The paper examines the present common law approaches that attempt to adjudicate disputes between contractors and owners by examining the law of estimates and quantum meruit respectively. It is argued that the law has developed in a particular manner in order to protect contractors from information asymmetries vis-à-vis owners in the context of large-scale construction projects. These information asymmetries are not present between owners vis-à-vis contractors in the small scale context, with the end result being that contractors are able to rely …

Judicial Settlement-Seeking In Parenting Cases: A Mock Trial, Noel Semple

Law Publications

Judicial dispute resolution is common in family courts, where it usually consists of informal efforts to bring about settlement in pre-trial conferences. Many judges are especially eager to promote settlement in child custody and visitation cases. This paper will critically evaluate informal JDR in parenting disputes, by asking whether and to what extent it is in the best interests of the children involved. It begins by identifying several features which distinguish custody and access disputes from other types of civil litigation, and which are relevant to the normative analysis of JDR in this context.

The paper then describes and evaluates …

The Rebirth Of Bicycling Law?, Christopher Waters

Law Publications

This article sketches the “law of wheelmen” as it developed in the late 19th century and suggests that, with the renaissance of cycling in North America, it is time to renew focus on the legal issues of cyclists. A comprehensive analysis of cycling’s legal needs across a range of issues – from legislation to enforcement and infrastructure – is in order and this article suggests an agenda for undertaking this analysis. For health, environmental and cultural issues, cycling is growing and the law and legal actors need to grapple with this means of active transit in a way that has …

Made You Look: Niqabs, The Muslim Canadian Congress, And R V Ns, Fathima Cader

Law Publications

R v NS was the first Canadian case to involve a niqab-wearing sexual assault complainant. At the Supreme Court of Canada, the Muslim Canadian Congress [MCC] was especially vocal in arguing it would be un-Canadian to allow NS to testify while wearing a niqab. This paper sets out to investigate the MCC’s depictions of Muslim women, Muslim men, and the mainstream public, with specific attention paid to the details of the MCC’s “clash of civilisations” framing, its impact on the Court’s reasons, and its implications for women combating sexual violence.

R c NS a été la première cause canadienne où …

Living In The Shadow Of The Intangible: The Nature Of The Copy Of A Copyrighted Work (Part Two), Pascale Chapdelaine

Law Publications

Copyright laws throughout the world are copyright holder centric and present a very fragmented source to comprehend the rights of users, and in particular of consumers owning copies of copyrighted works. Although in recent years, a growing number of commentators have worked towards defining the place of users in copyright law, little attention has been devoted to the nature and justifications of copy ownership of copyrighted works. This paper applies property and copyright theory to define and justify the existence of copy ownership of copyrighted works. It seeks to carve out in clearer terms the place of copy ownership legally …

Introduction: Re-Igniting Critical Race In Canadian Legal Spaces: Introduction To The Special Symposium Issue Of Contemporary Accounts Of Racialization In Canada, Sujith Xavier, Shanthi Senthe

Law Publications

Osgoode Hall Law School, York University’s Challenging Conventions Speaker Series organized ReIgniting Critical Race: A Symposium on Contemporary Accounts of Racialization in Canada on November 2, 2012. The symposium sought to explore critical race theory1 and its praxis within the Canadian legal academy by inviting emerging scholars and practitioners to engage with the scholarship of Professor Patricia Williams.