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Full-Text Articles in Law
An Abortion Law Preformed, Joanna Erdman
An Abortion Law Preformed, Joanna Erdman
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
This article engages the transcribed testimony of Carolyn Egan and Janice Patricia Tripp in R v Morgentaler as a critical moment of lawmaking. There is something revealing, often amusing, and sometimes devastating, when a lawyer asks a non-lawyer, in this case, a social worker: “What is the law?” The article focuses on those moments in their testimony when Egan and Tripp answered questions about the 1969 abortion law that made the law itself, its rules and procedures, the subject of examination, and in doing so, constructed new meanings of the law and social action in relation to it in the …
Redressing The Imbalances: Rethinking The Judicial Role After R. V. R.D.S., Richard Devlin Frsc, Dianne Pothier
Redressing The Imbalances: Rethinking The Judicial Role After R. V. R.D.S., Richard Devlin Frsc, Dianne Pothier
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
The decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. R.D.S. dealt with whether a trial judge's comments, about the interactions between police officers and "non-white groups", gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias in the circumstances. They strongly criticize the contrary ruling of the dissent as inappropriately drawing a false dichotomy between decisions based on evidence and decisions based on evidence and decision based on generalizations, and as improperly ignoring social context with an unwarranted confidence in the ideology of colour blindness. While more supportive of the majority's analysis, the authors also find cause for concern, with …
The Sounds Of Silence: Charter Application When The Legislature Declines To Speak, Dianne Pothier
The Sounds Of Silence: Charter Application When The Legislature Declines To Speak, Dianne Pothier
Dianne Pothier Collection
On first impression, the title of the Simon and Garfunkle hit classic hit "The Sounds of Silence" may seem like an oxymoron. But it does not take too much reflection to realize that silence can indeed be very expressive and therefore quite telling. While that can be true in any number of contexts, for the specific purpose of this article, I will examine only one: legislative silence. What is the legal significance of the legislature declining to speak on one particular aspect of a legal issue otherwise addressed in the legislation? More specifically, can the Charter be engaged to challenge …