Law Commons^™

Legislative Options To Address Institutional Objections To Voluntary Assisted Dying In Australia, Ben P. White, Lindy Willmott, Eliana Close, Jocelyn Downie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Voluntary assisted dying is being considered by parliaments and law reform bodies across Australia. Although individual conscientious objection is routinely considered in these deliberations, an institution’s desire to object to providing voluntary assisted dying has received very little attention. After briefly considering the concept of institutional objection in voluntary assisted dying, this article examines the available (albeit limited) Australian evidence on this practice. Institutional objection is happening in Victoria (where voluntary assisted dying is lawful) and is likely to occur in other Australian states. The article proposes that regulation is needed and presents three models for parliaments and law reformers …

The Duty Of Legislative Counsel As Guardians Of The Statute Book: Sui Generis Or A Professional Duty Of Lawyers?, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Legislative counsel—those who draft legislation for the executive or for legislative assemblies—are largely overlooked in the Canadian legal literature and case law. One respect in which legislative counsel appear to be unique is their duty as guardians or keepers of the statute book. This article argues that this Guardian duty is best understood as a professional duty of legislative counsel as lawyers. In the same way that all lawyers have professional duties as officers of the court, though these duties are most relevant to litigators, all lawyers have professional duties as officers of the statute book, though these duties are …

Attitudes Toward Withholding Antibiotics From People With Dementia Lacking Decisional Capacity: Findings From A Survey Of Canadian Stakeholders, Gina Bravo, Lieve Van Den Block, Jocelyn Downie, Marcel Arcand, Lise Trottier

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Background

Healthcare professionals and surrogate decision-makers often face the difficult decision of whether to initiate or withhold antibiotics from people with dementia who have developed a life-threatening infection after losing decisional capacity.

Methods

We conducted a vignette-based survey among 1050 Quebec stakeholders (senior citizens, family caregivers, nurses and physicians; response rate 49.4%) to (1) assess their attitudes toward withholding antibiotics from people with dementia lacking decisional capacity; (2) compare attitudes between dementia stages and stakeholder groups; and (3) investigate other correlates of attitudes, including support for continuous deep sedation (CDS) and medical assistance in dying (MAID). The vignettes feature a …

Readability In The Canadian Tax System, Colin Jackson

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This paper reports the results of a readability analysis of various parts of the Canadian tax system, with a particular focus on Canada’s income tax. The results indicate that Canada’s Income Tax Act is significantly more difficult to read than the taxation statutes of several comparable jurisdictions and more difficult to read than other Canadian legislation governing economic relationships. The guidance published by the Canada Revenue Agency for the use of tax professionals and the public appears more accessible. While it may be hoped that the statutory provisions that apply to low- and middle-income individuals would be more readable than …

Submission To Canadian Government Consultation On A Modern Copyright Framework For Ai And The Internet Of Things, Sean Flynn, Lucie Guibault, Christian Handke, Joan-Josep Vallbé, Michael Palmedo, Carys Craig, Michael Geist, Joao Pedro Quintais

Reports & Public Policy Documents

We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Canadian Government’s consultation on a modern copyright framework for AI and the Internet of Things. Below, we present some of our research findings relating to the importance of flexibility in copyright law to permit text and data mining (“TDM”). As the consultation paper recognizes, TDM is a critical element of artificial intelligence. Our research supports the adoption of a specific exception for uses of works in TDM to supplement Canada’s existing general fair dealing exception.

Empirical research shows that more publication of citable research takes place in countries with “open” …

Adult Capacity And Decision Making Act Review, Sheila Wildeman

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act is for adults who can’t make some or all decisions for themselves because of a learning disability, mental illness, brain injury or other reasons. This law respects the rights of adults to make their own decisions, while allowing someone else to help make important decisions for them when they can’t.

You can read the results of the review in the Report on the Review of the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act.

In 2021, government consulted with Nova Scotians about the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act. The results of the consultation informed the review. You …

A Modern Copyright Framework For Artificial Intelligence: Ip Scholars' Joint Submission To The Canadian Government Consultation, Carys Craig, Bita Amani, Sara Bannerman, Céline Castets-Renard, Pascale Chapdelaine, Lucie Guibault, Gregory R. Hagen, Cameron J. Hutchison, Ariel Katz, Alexandra Mogyoros, Graham Reynolds, Anthony D. Rosborough, Teresa Scassa, Myra Tawfik

Reports & Public Policy Documents

In response to the Canadian government consultation process on the modernization of the copyright framework launched in the summer 2021, we hereby present our analysis and recommendations concerning the interaction between copyright and artificial intelligence (AI). The recommendations herein reflect the shared opinion of the intellectual property scholars who are signatories to this brief. They are informed by many combined decades of study, teaching, and practice in Canadian and international intellectual property law.

In what follows, we explain:
- The importance of approaching the questions raised in the consultation with a firm commitment to maintaining the appropriate balance of rights …