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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Law
Does “No, Not Without A Condom” Mean “Yes, Even Without A Condom”?: The Fallout From R V Hutchinson, Lise Gotell, Isabel Grant
Does “No, Not Without A Condom” Mean “Yes, Even Without A Condom”?: The Fallout From R V Hutchinson, Lise Gotell, Isabel Grant
Dalhousie Law Journal
In R v Kirkpatrick, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia held that consent to sexual activity cannot be established where a man proceeds with unprotected vaginal intercourse when his sexual partner has insisted on a condom. While this finding should be uncontroversial, it is in fact contrary to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling in R v Hutchinson. In this comment we argue that the approach taken in Kirkpatrick is correct and consistent with the landmark decision in R v Ewanchuk. We urge the Supreme Court of Canada to reconsider its majority judgment in Hutchinson in order to fully …
Re-Thinking The Process For Administering Oaths And Affirmations, Colton Fehr
Re-Thinking The Process For Administering Oaths And Affirmations, Colton Fehr
Dalhousie Law Journal
Courts around the world require witnesses to swear an oath to a religious deity or affirm to tell the truth before providing testimony. It is widely thought that such a process has the potential to give rise to unnecessary bias against witnesses based on their religious beliefs or lack thereof. Scholars have offered two main prescriptions to remedy this problem: (i) abolish the oath and have all witnesses promise to tell the truth; or (ii) require oath-swearing witnesses to invoke a non-specific reference to God. The former proposal is problematic as it rests on the unproven assertion that giving an …
Intervenors At The Supreme Court Of Canada, Geoffrey D. Callaghan
Intervenors At The Supreme Court Of Canada, Geoffrey D. Callaghan
Dalhousie Law Journal
My aim in this paper is to offer a normatively attractive and explanatorily sound interpretation of the Supreme Court of Canada’s approach to third party intervention. The crux of my interpretation is that the policy the Court has developed on intervenors allows it to strike a reasonable balance among a number of competing democratic considerations, all of which have value in the context of judicial decision making. In this respect, the Court should be commended for identifying a way to liberalize a practice that possesses many democratically-attractive features, but also the inherent capacity to undermine the democratic standing of the …
Small Claims Disputes In Nova Scotia And Access To Justice, William H. Charles
Small Claims Disputes In Nova Scotia And Access To Justice, William H. Charles
Dalhousie Law Journal
The author examines, in some detail, the current operations of the Nova Scotia Small Claims Court to determine whether the court, established forty years ago, is still fulfilling its legislative mandates of providing ready access to speedy, informal and inexpensive justice. After reviewing historical attempts by the legal system to provide an effective mechanism to adjudicate minor disputes, and the various factors that eventually resulted in the creation of the present court in 1980, the author identifies a number of other factors that historically had a negative impact on the operation of the court. Many of these, involving court jurisdiction, …
Popping The Question: What The Questionnaire For Federal Judicial Appointments Reveals About The Pursuit Of Justice, Diversity, And The Commitment To Transparency, Agathon Fric
Dalhousie Law Journal
Since 2017, the Canadian government has published excerpts from questionnaires that prospective judges completed as part of the judicial selection process, subjecting newly appointed superior and federal court judges to a degree of scrutiny that is unprecedented in Canadian history. Using this novel source material, this article explores what a sample of 16 judges’ questionnaires do and do not say about the individuals behind the robes. This review suggests that those appointed to the bench in 2017 generally demonstrate insight into the judicial role in Canada. However, some provide only superficial responses, others parrot back normative values that the government …