Evidence

This course is an introduction to criminal and civil evidence law in Canada. Among the topics considered in the course are the following: understanding the law of evidence as law’s particular “way of knowing”; the substantive law of evidence, including basic concepts such as relevance and admissibility, exclusionary rules based on unreliability and prejudicial effects, exclusionary rules based on policy rationales, and other aspects of proof; the way that the laws of evidence work in trial practice, as well as the historical, social, political, and legal context in which they operate; the relationship between the laws of evidence and social justice, in particular the impact of the law of evidence on gender issues and Aboriginal justice; ethical issues in the law of evidence; and the effect of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms upon the law of evidence.