This course will provide students with an overview of the Canadian criminal process, with a special attention given to the limitations imposed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It will begin with an exploration of police investigative powers. The authority of Canadian police to search/seize, question, detain, and arrest will all be considered in detail. The exclusion of unconstitutionally obtained evidence, as well as the availability of other constitutional remedies, will also be addressed. The course will then shift to a consideration of the criminal process after charges are formally brought, including intake procedures, bail, disclosure, plea, plea bargaining, prosecutorial discretion, and the right to a trial within a reasonable time. If time allows, some trial and post-trial issues may be considered, including jury selection, res judicata, and appeals. Throughout, various theoretical perspectives on criminal law and process will be discussed. The course will also seek to introduce key historical connections and important points of comparison between criminal procedure in Canada and the United States, primarily in terms of their constitutional regulation, as well as with the common law of England.
Course or Seminar Category: Criminal Law
Criminal Law II: Sexual Offences
This advanced criminal law class examines legal issues that commonly arise in relation to criminal sexual offences. Topics will include: consent and mistaken belief in consent; failure to disclose HIV+ status; access to the complainant’s counselling and other records; the use of text messages and other private records in cross-examination; admissibility of evidence of the complainant’s prior sexual history; prior complaint and recent fabrication; admissibility of similar fact evidence; sentencing, and the ethics of prosecuting and defending sexual offences.
Criminal Law II: Homicide
This advanced course in criminal law focuses on the law of homicide. The course will examine the constituent elements, available defences and relationship between forms of culpable homicide. The course will also address the prosecution and defence of homicide
charges, as well as evidentiary and procedural issues that frequently arise in homicide cases. In addition, the course will explore jury instructions at various stages of the trial.
International Criminal Law
Law in the face of political violence and mass atrocity reveals some of the most pressing issues in global politics and international law today. With the Russia/Ukraine war, the Israel/Palestine conflict, the U.S./Israel-Iran war and the broader destabilization of the Middle East, many experts warn that the foundations of the post-World War II system of international law and the liberal ‘rules-based international order’ are not only under attack but are at risk of disintegrating.
Against the backdrop of current events in global politics this course will provide students with an introduction to the main concepts, rules and institutions of the field of International Criminal Law. It will explore the core international crimes of aggression, war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, as well as peripheral or emerging international crimes including terrorism and ecocide. Students will gain a foundational knowledge of the field, including how it is situated in the broader contexts of public international law, international human rights law and Canadian criminal law.
While the core structures of the field are now well-established, the goals of international criminal prosecutions are more elusive. The figure of the international criminal has come to stand in, often at one and the same time, for the human rights violator, the political enemy, and the social, philosophical and theological scapegoat. International criminal law is said to, variously: subject the use of force to the rule of law; punish the worst crimes and deter their future commission; create an accurate historical record of mass atrocity; provide redress and reparation to victims; address threats to international peace and security; facilitate transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic systems; and provide a common vocabulary through which to articulate the legal regulation of acts that ‘shock the conscience of mankind.’ However, these objectives do not sit easily together, from either a theoretical or practical perspective.
We will explore the sometimes-contradictory objectives of the field with a view to equipping students with a critical toolkit with which to assess the effectiveness of strategic and tactical international criminal law interventions in global politics. This conversation will be rooted in both the regulation of present-day violence and the broader history of the field, including the Nuremberg trials, the ad hoc tribunals and domestic prosecution efforts like the Eichmann trial. We will look at International Criminal Law as a global criminal justice project deployed by specific actors for specific purposes. Students are invited to engage these questions as active political agents, asking whether, and how, this body of law and set of institutions and practices could be deployed to secure substantive policy objectives.
Using case studies and interactive learning, students will be asked to concretely evaluate the stakes of international criminal justice across a variety of jurisdictional contexts, asking how—and for whom—international criminal law might be a good thing or a bad thing. Various theoretical lenses will be deployed throughout, challenging students to evaluate doctrine and case law considering fundamental questions of global jurisdiction, constituency, and legitimacy.
Evidence
This course will introduce students to the law of evidence in Canada. It will examine how the common law, statutes, and the Constitution interact to govern the proof of facts in both civil and criminal trials. Topics to be addressed include: burdens of proof; the role of the trial judge in managing the introduction of evidence; methods of presenting evidence; witness competency and compellability; relevance; and the various exclusionary rules that operate to limit the kinds of proof that can be received at trial (i.e. the rules governing hearsay, privilege, expert opinion evidence, etc.). The course will engage ethical issues that arise in the context of evidence law. It will consider how some rules of evidence have evolved historically, and it will attend to the social, political, and institutional contexts in which evidence law operates. The course will encourage critical reflection on the theories, purposes, and justifications that animate evidentiary rules, and on how those rules impact different individuals and communities.
To prepare for each class, students will be asked to view pre-recorded lectures and/or complete assigned readings. Class time will be dedicated to further lectures, discussions, and practice exercises. All students will write the same sit-down final examination. Students may elect to complete an optional research paper assignment, which will reduce the total value of the final examination from 100% to 60%, with the paper being worth 40%.
Evidence
This course provides a comprehensive study of the law of evidence in Canada, using Evidence: Principles and Problems, 14th edition (Stuart, Tanovich & Dufraimont). Students will examine the core principles and rules governing the admissibility, exclusion, and use of evidence in both criminal and civil proceedings. Topics include relevance and judicial discretion to exclude, burdens of proof and presumptions, character evidence, hearsay and its exceptions, opinion and expert evidence, privileges, third-party records, and the intersection of evidentiary rules with Charter rights.
Drawing on leading Supreme Court of Canada and appellate decisions, scholarly commentary, and the text’s thought-provoking problem scenarios, the course bridges black-letter doctrine with practical courtroom application. Students will develop the analytical and advocacy skills necessary to identify evidentiary issues, make and respond to objections, and apply the rules strategically in trials and appeals. Emphasis is placed on professional judgment, ethical considerations, and the real-world operation of evidence law in Canadian courts.
This course will also engage ethical issues that arise in the context of evidence law. It will consider how some rules of evidence have evolved historically, and it will attend to the social, political, and institutional contexts in which evidence law operates. The course will encourage critical reflection on the theories, purposes, and justifications that animate evidentiary rules, and on how those rules impact different individuals and communities.
By the end of the term, students will be equipped handle the doctrinal framework but also to navigate the tactical and ethical demands of evidentiary decision-making in practice.
To prepare for each class, students will be asked to complete assigned readings. Class time will be dedicated to further lectures, discussions, and practice exercises.
All students will write a sit-down in class final examination.
There is no optional assignment in this course.
Criminal Law II: Cybercrime
The online world has transformed the nature of criminal activity. It has created new opportunities for offending, made criminal conduct harder to detect, altered how law enforcement investigates crime, and challenged traditional assumptions about what conduct should be treated as criminal.
This course explores these issues and more. No prior knowledge of cybercrime or technology is required. We will begin with foundational concepts before moving into a more advanced study of cyber-related criminal law and procedure. Topics will include substantive offences that regulate online conduct, digital privacy and policing, online speech, cryptocurrency, encryption, biometric searches, deepfake technology, and other emerging issues at the intersection of criminal law and technology.
Criminal Procedure
This course will provide students with an overview of the Canadian criminal process. It will begin with an exploration of police investigative powers. The authority of Canadian police to detain, search/seize, question and arrest will all be considered in detail. Special attention will be given to the limitations imposed on each of these powers by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The course will then shift to a consideration of the criminal process after charges are formally brought, including intake procedures, bail, disclosure (the effects of non-disclosure and/or lost evidence), election and plea, preliminary inquiries, the right to trial within a reasonable time and plea-bargaining. The course will then focus on the trial, including trial venue, jury selection and trial procedure. This will be followed by an overview of the law of sentencing, and a brief consideration of appeals.