Election laws regulate the democratic process in accordance with constitutional requirements. Legislators enact the laws governing how they are elected. Courts are called on to adjudicate matters that were once solely considered political. Today, the adequacy of election laws to protect the democratic rights of citizens from interference is being called into question. How and why election laws need to be reformed is an enduring question. Focussing on the
Canadian context, with reference to the U.S. and other countries, this course will survey these issues by looking at the constitutional and legal aspects governing: how elections are called and administered; how the electoral map is designed; who has the right to vote; how campaign finances are regulated; how voting results are decided and challenged; and, how election law offences are enforced and prosecuted.
Course or Seminar Category: Equality Social Justice and Human Rights Law
Law, Society, State: Critical Race Theory
One way of describing critical race theory (CRT), a body of work which began in the 1980s, is to say it aims to expose and explain the role of law in creating and sustaining societal structures of race and racial oppression. In this model, in contrast to the more liberal civil rights model, law is understood to be the problem, not the solution. Scholars also often describe CRT as praxis – theory that exists in how it is enacted. In this seminar, we will read key early texts from the originators of CRT and then consider more recent scholarship. Our goal will include exploring the utility of CRT as a way of understanding law and our relationship to it. Students should expect to engage with scholarly proposals and prescriptions, to understand internal and external critiques of CRT as theory and method, and to determine how and why something should be – or not be – considered part of the CRT tradition. We will carefully consider the role of the lawyer if the legal system is part of the support structure for racial inequality. Members of the seminar will be expected to engage both in class and in the form of periodic small exercises, and the classroom time will focus on efforts to carefully and deliberately consider the theory and its application, and to discern with precision zones of uncertainty and disagreement. Guest speakers including practicing lawyers will visit this classroom to discuss their experiences and teach from their expertise. This class will feature guidance through the stages of writing a research paper, including developing a research question, preliminary research, organization and argument.
Legal Values: Artificial Intelligence (Discrmination & Surveillance)
This seminar will explore in depth the many ways in which modern computing systems — including the data they ingest, the decisions made by the folks who develop them, and their myriad and nearly ubiquitous applications — may enable, encourage, or prevent societal discrimination and surveillance capitalism of various types. Students will learn how algorithms and artificial intelligence (“AI”) systems work, how such algorithms and systems may provide differential treatment and/or outcomes for different populations, and how they may invade privacy and cause other harms to people. Students will also consider the potential legal/regulatory, technical, and social/policy interventions that could ameliorate the harms caused by such algorithms and systems and will weigh the advantages and disadvantaged of each.
At the end of the seminar, students should be able to (i) discuss with colleagues and others the positive and negative consequences of various current AI innovations, and (ii) suggest different approaches to address systemic bias and surveillance capitalism — including legal/regulatory or social/policy changes, as well as technical solutions — and explain why certain of these approaches might or might not work in specific circumstances.
Administration of Criminal Justice: Sentencing
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.
Legal Values: Advanced Criminal Law (Race & Racism)
Taught by a Superior Court Judge and an experienced member 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 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 areas of criminal law. How has recognition of this particular piece of “social context” been integrated into judicial decision-making and criminal procedure?
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.
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.
International Human Rights Law
This seminar is organized into three modules. The first will provide a foundational background that includes an overview of the history, key concepts, and the underlying international law framework of the international human rights law (IHRL) system. The second module will deliver the substantive core of the seminar’s subject matter and include an introduction to major institutions and processes of the system, an overview of some core doctrine and debates related to a selection of protected human rights (e.g. those related to life, health, freedom from torture, non-discrimination), engagement with certain general concepts and debates about individual rights as well as the system as a whole (including criticisms and controversies), and the various ways in which international human rights law can be used as a legal advocacy tool within the domestic system. The third and final module will examine selected current topics in IHRL, including a review of closely related fields of international law such as international criminal law, international humanitarian law, international refugee law, and indigenous peoples’ rights.
The IHRL system is vast, and the goal of the course is not to provide a comprehensive doctrinal understanding of the entire field. Rather, the objective is for students to come away with a basic familiarity with the fundamental architecture of the system, the resources with which to navigate it, and knowledge of the ways in which international human rights law can be used to inform and support human rights advocacy under domestic legal systems. In addition, through the requirement of a major paper, each student will gain more focused knowledge of a specialized topic of the student’s choice.
Student learning will take place by completion of assigned readings, online posting of brief comments by students, and discussion in class, combined with the preparation of a major research paper.
The class meets once a week in a 3-hour time slot. Guests may on occasion be beamed into the class using a classroom internet connection; certain classes may be scheduled to be fully remote on Zoom where a guest or guests cannot attend in person.
Administration of Criminal Justice: Mental Illness
For the student wishing to practice criminal law, it is inevitable that they will encounter individuals with mental health issues. Studies
consistently show that at least 1 in 5 of all Canadians will be affected by a mental illness, either personally or through a close family member. The percentage of individuals with mental health issues increases when one looks at those charged with criminal offences and those in the correctional system. Accused persons with mental health issues raise difficult and complex issues for the criminal law practitioner, whether you are a prosecutor, duty counsel, defence counsel or a judge.
This seminar will develop students’ knowledge of forensic mental health issues throughout the criminal justice system. The 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, as well as the intersection between the Criminal Code and administrative law. 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.
Class Actions
Class actions have become a key element of the Canadian civil justice system. Building on the tradition of public interest litigation, they seek to promote access to justice, judicial economy, and behaviour modification, while supporting traditional procedural values. The interface between these aspirations has generated considerable interest and debate among practitioners and academics alike. In this seminar, we welcome a series of leading counsel and judges to discuss with us topics such as the roles of class counsel and defence counsel, and related ethical issues; costs (who should pay and when and how much) and principles of funding and financing; the role of court-approved settlements in maximizing value for the class; the role of the representative plaintiff and the ways in which the interests of the class can best be served; and parallel and overlapping cross-border class actions. This is an excellent seminar for those considering a career in civil litigation and for those interested in the way class actions are transforming the role of civil justice in society.
Comparative Law: Comparative Constitutionalism
This course provides a comprehensive examination of comparative constitutionalism in the developing world, with a focus on the Global South. It aims to give students a deep understanding of the principles, practices, and challenges of constitutional governance within these diverse contexts. The course will examine historical, cultural, and political factors, as well as investigate colonial legacies, democratization processes, and socio-economic conditions to better understand their influence on constitutional design, development, and implementation. Key topics include constitutional making and accommodation, democratic governance, the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the role of constitutional oversight bodies. Through case studies from countries such as Afghanistan, Asia, Africa, and South America, students will analyze various approaches to constitutionalism and the influence of institutional design and power dynamics on constitutional outcomes.
Legal Ethics
Truly, consideration of legal ethics will be an integral part of everything that you do and say in your career as a lawyer. Legal ethics define your relationship with your client, your relationship with other lawyers, your relationship with the Law Society, and your relationship with the public at large.
Using readings, class discussions, group presentations and a take-home exam, we will consider the concepts found in the Rules of Professional Conduct, and in the principles of confidentiality, competence, loyalty, interests, access to justice, professionalism, and self-regulation.