Human Rights Law Commons^™

'I Do' Kiss And Tell: The Subversive Potential Of Non-Normative Sexual Expression From Within Cultural Paradigms, Elaine Craig

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Using a comparative analysis of the equality movements of sexual minorities in Canada and India the author identifies a symbiosis between the subversive benefits of a deconstructionist approach to equality and the practical achievements to be gained by a rights-based model of social justice. The analysis is conducted through an examination of the role that the expression of same-sex desire plays in the legal and social positions of sexual minorities in Canada and India. The author argues that the acquisition of rights can provide sexual minorities with greater access to dominant cultural rituals and that such access provides opportunities to …

Revisioning The Oversight Of Research Involving Humans In Canada, Jocelyn Downie, Fiona Mcdonald

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When individuals are asked to participate in research they should be able to assume that the research "is well designed and well executed, that the investigator is competent to undertake the study, that the study will be run efficiently, safely, and ethically and that the deviations from good practice will be identified and corrected." The central question that we focus on in this paper is whether the governance mechanisms that are currently in place to regulate the conduct of research involving humans are adequate to enable those who are approached to participate in research to make these assumptions. This review …

Protecting Human Research Subjects: A Jurisdictional Analysis, Jennifer Llewellyn, Jocelyn Downie, Robert Holmes

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The most recent speech from the throne contained a pledge from the federal government to "work with provinces to implement a national system for the governance of research involving humans, including national research ethics and standards." This commitment signals a desire on the part of the federal government to address concerns about the inadequacies of the current governance of health research involving humans (RIH). To this end, Health Canada's Ethics Division is currently exploring the ways in which such a national governance system for RIH might be implemented. It is important for the federal government, as it moves toward making …

Redressing The Imbalances: Rethinking The Judicial Role After R. V. R.D.S., Richard Devlin Frsc, Dianne Pothier

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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 …

Human Rights And International Mutual Legal Assistance: Resolving The Tension, Robert Currie

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If indeed, as has been said, "it is fashionable nowadays to discuss the problems that arise from the application of general human rights to extradition", then it is also true that human rights concerns are increasingly being raised with regard to other forms of international criminal co-operation as well. As compliance with international human rights norms has become the subject of greater scrutiny by both States and international adjudicative bodies, concerns have been raised regarding their application to the various processes by which States aid each other in combating transnational crime. Prosecuting authorities are presented with problems of how the …

Human Rights And International Mutual Legal Assistance: Resolving The Tension, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

If indeed, as has been said, "it is fashionable nowadays to discuss the problems that arise from the application of general human rights to extradition", then it is also true that human rights concerns are increasingly being raised with regard to other forms of international criminal co-operation as well. As compliance with international human rights norms has become the subject of greater scrutiny by both States and international adjudicative bodies, concerns have been raised regarding their application to the various processes by which States aid each other in combating transnational crime. Prosecuting authorities are presented with problems of how the …

Solidarity Or Solipsistic Tunnel Vision? Reminiscences Of A Renegade Rapporteur, Richard F. Devlin Frsc

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In short, human rights is "an essentially contested concept". I think it is important to be clear right from the beginning as to what we mean by human rights, because that assumption will determine the remainder of our analysis. Two conceptions, in particular, tended to surface in the Conference and it is important to spotlight them because they underpin, concretize and reflect many of the other tensions of the last couple of days. These I shall call "the essentialist" and "the critical modernist" versions of human rights.

The Big Mac Attack: A Critical Affirmation Of Mackinnon's Unmodified Theory Of Patriarchal Power, Alexandra Z. Dobrowolsky, Richard F. Devlin Frsc

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For several years now, Catharine MacKinnon has impressed and inspired us in that she has consistently and eloquently articulated much of what we felt and feared: that the condition of women in North American society is intoler able; that the state, because of its acts and omissions, is complicitous in the enforced inequality of women; and that law, more often than not, has been part of the problem rather th.an part of the solution. However, despite our broad agreement with the general direction of MacKinnon 's analysis throughout this period, we each have had, in our own different ways, a …

The Elwood Case: Vindicating The Educational Rights Of The Disabled, A. Wayne Mackay

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The guarantees of the Charter of Rights affect the definition of education for the disabled. The case of Elwood v. Halifax County - Bedford District School Board, a landmark case in educational rights of disabled children in Canada, has major implications for educational practice.

One of the earliest and most controversial Charter of Rights challenges to the existing educational structure has come from parents of disabled children. Disabled children and their parents are blazing a trail to define educational rights in Canada, and the process is giving some shape to the the elusive concept of equality enshrined in the …

Book Review Of Passion: An Essay On Personality , Richard F. Devlin Frsc

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Passion is a cogently structured, compel Jingly argued and seductively enthralling masterpiece which, in years to come, will undoubtedly stand out as an inspirational source for many who seek social transformation. Unger's style, in this essay at least, is lucid and inviting. Substantively, Passion demonstrates not only the depth of his penetrating intellect but also his command of an array of' disciplines. Unger's polymathy is all the more impressive when we remember that ours is an era in which idiosyncratic specialization is the norm.