This seminar applies and builds on the knowledge learned from the Evidence (LW 2490.04) course, which is a required prerequisite.
The seminar will begin to develop in students the skills necessary to become effective litigators. That objective will be achieved both by enhancing students’ understanding of the law of evidence and also by assisting students to acquire the skills of factual analysis that are the stock and trade of trial lawyers. While doing so, the seminar will also afford students a unique opportunity to reflect on the litigation process and critically analyse how cases are constructed.
In this seminar, students will learn by doing. Materials from an actual murder case will provide the focus of in-class exercises. Excerpts from a documentary film involving that very same case, which chronicles the actual prosecution from start to finish, will supplement these exercises.
Although the in-class exercises and the take-home assignment will involve criminal cases, the skills developed will be equally valuable to those interested in civil litigation.
WARNING: The materials used both in the seminar and in the take-home assignment are from actual cases involving violent crimes – they are graphic and disturbing. Therefore, if you suspect that you may have difficulty being exposed to such materials, you should refrain from enrolling in this seminar.
In this seminar we will explore sentencing law and procedure in Canada. The course will begin with a consideration of the concept of punishment and the philosophical dimensions of sentencing, including an exploration of the purposes and principles of sentencing. The remainder of the course will be devoted to exploring the legal doctrine that governs sentencing and imprisonment in Canada and legislative and judicial approaches to sentencing. More specifically, we will consider the various sentencing options available in Canadian law, the procedural and substantive aspects of sentencing hearings and the interplay of sentencing and plea negotiations. Particular attention will be paid to the sentencing of Indigenous peoples and racialized individuals. Other topics for consideration may include Charter litigation and sentencing, the sentencing of individuals with mental disorders and victim participation in sentencing.
An introduction to the techniques of trial advocacy in civil and criminal trials. Consideration is given to pre-trial preparation and case analysis, opening and closing statements, examination and cross-examination of witnesses, evidence issues, expert evidence, tactical questions and ethical issues that confront the trial lawyer. Students perform simulation exercises in small groups under the critical guidance of experienced trial lawyers and Judges. Students conduct 1/2 day jury trials with two-student counsel acting on each side of the case. Trials are presided by Judges of either the Ontario Court of Justice or the Superior Court of Justice.
In this seminar students will learn the substantive and procedural aspects of regulatory offences, or public welfare or quasi-criminal offences as they are sometimes called. The course has a practical focus, examining matters that arise before courts, administrative tribunals, regulators and law enforcement agencies. Seminar topics will include: the classification of regulatory offences, evidence gathering techniques, the application of the Charter of Rights, and the unique nature of strict liability prosecutions, including the operation of the due diligence defence. Sentencing considerations and proposals for reform will be canvassed as well.
Taught by two Superior Court Judges, formerly experienced members of the criminal bar, this seminar explores how racial inequality and in particular anti-black racism are addressed in Canadian criminal law through a critical review of landmark cases and selected secondary scholarly literature.
Students will study key parts of the criminal trial process from start to finish including bail, jury selection, Charter and common law motions, and sentencing.
Students will consider how advocates have worked to bring claims of racism to the courts. The class will assess the extent to which courts have addressed claims of racism, whether systemic or individual, in their interpretation of various fundamental procedural, evidentiary and Charter areas of criminal law. How has recognition of this particular piece of “social context” been integrated into judicial decision-making and criminal procedure?
By the end of the course students will be:
i) familiar with a set of contemporary cases in which questions about of race and racism intersect with issues in criminal procedure, sections 7, 8, 9, 24(2) of the Charter, evidence and sentencing.
ii) capable of critically analyzing the responses of the Canadian criminal justice system to claims of racism, whether systemic racism or particular incidents of racially targeted state action.
iii) able to develop effective approaches to anti racist advocacy suitable for use in Canadian criminal court.
Class discussions and assignments will work to bring together theory and practice in assessing and developing anti racist advocacy in the criminal law context.
Specific topics covered include:
· Identifying race and racism as part of context, and how this does/should impact legal interpretation;
· Identifying the relevance of race/racism for the parties involved; and
· Identifying the opportune time to raise the issue
Guest speakers with expertise in a relevant area will periodically visit the class.
Was NATO’s military intervention in Libya legal? What about Afghanistan? Or the imprisonment of America’s detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba? Is Russia’s military overrun of Ukraine lawful? What is the legal status of killing by drones? What happens to people who commit war crimes? What are the remedies for an illegal war? This seminar examines the international law governing war, including both questions of when war is legal (so-called ‘jus ad bellum’) and how even legal wars must be conducted (so-called ‘jus in bello’ or the laws and customs of war) and the relationship between the two types of law. It also examines the various judicial institutions that have jurisdiction over these issues, from the World Court, to the ad hoc tribunals (Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone), to national courts exercising ‘universal jurisdiction’ (Belgium, Canada), to the new International Criminal Court.
Case studies on the armed conflicts over Kosovo, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, Ukraine, and between Israel and the Palestinians, provide the settings for concrete legal analysis and also for critical evaluation of the role of law in war.
Our criminal justice system is built on the foundational belief that it is better that ten guilty people go free than one innocent person is found guilty. This course examines this bedrock principle and its application in the Canadian criminal justice system. Students will critically assess the meaning of innocence in the context of wrongful convictions and how wrongful convictions are currently identified. Students will then examine the major causes of wrongful convictions in Canada, including police misconduct, prosecutorial misconduct, false confessions, unsavoury witnesses, faulty experts, junk science, pre-trial detention, ineffective assistance of counsel, and more.
The coursework will involve both practical and theoretical teachings in the areas of criminal justice, including analyses of the failures of the criminal justice system that led to particular wrongful convictions. Students will have an opportunity to assess how the justice system has responded to those failures and whether current procedures are adequate to protect against similar wrongful convictions in the future.
While Evidence and Criminal Procedure are not strict prerequisites, it is highly recommended that students will have either completed those courses or will be taking them concurrently with this course. Familiarity with basic criminal law concepts will be presumed, and this course will not teach those foundational concepts and will assume that students are familiar with them and able to critically examine and apply them.
“In every society there are those who commit criminal acts because of mental illness. The criminal law must find a way to deal with these people fairly, while protecting the public against further harms. The task is not an easy one.” Winko v. British Columbia (Forensic Psychiatric Institute), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 625 at para. 1
For the student wishing to practice criminal law, it is inevitable that they will encounter individuals with mental health issues. This course will examine the various legal issues that arise when an accused person living with mental illness comes into contact with the criminal justice system. Students will become familiar with Part XX.1 of the Criminal Code (Mental Disorder) and related sections and will include fitness issues, Not Criminally Responsible verdicts, expert evidence, principles of sentencing and the Ontario Review Board. The seminar will also afford students an opportunity to reflect critically on the various social, legal and ethical issues that arise as an individual with mental health issues goes through the criminal justice system, including the use of measures to divert persons away from or out of the criminal justice system.
The class will include lectures, guest speakers and class discussion. Students will also see how these statutory provisions arise in practice through a field trip (conditions permitting) to a specialized Mental Health Court or the Ontario Review Board.
This course will examine the basic rules and principles of evidence law in Canada, and the impact of constitutional principles and constraints. The course will also examine some of the philosophical underpinnings on which judges and legislators rely when they develop and apply rules of evidence. Students will learn how to reason about evidence, and will be encouraged to reflect critically on the modern law of criminal evidence.
This course will examine the basic rules and principles of evidence law in Canada, and the impact of constitutional principles and constraints. The course will also examine some of the philosophical underpinnings on which judges and legislators rely when they develop and apply rules of evidence. Students will learn how to reason about evidence, and will be encouraged to reflect critically on the modern law of evidence in criminal and civil proceedings.