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Introduction: Domestic Violence and Access to Justice within the Family Law and Intersecting Legal Systems
Get PDFThe articles in this collection explore the access to justice issues that arise for survivors of domestic violence in their encounters with Canada’s family law system. While family law and family dispute resolution processes are the central focus of the articles, three contributions also address family law\u27s intersections with other legal domains (civil restraining orders, child welfare, and immigration). Common across the contributions is a desire to carefully interrogate the potential of law and legal processes to enhance—or conversely to undermine—the safety and well-being of survivors and their children
You Have to Find them First and That’s a People-Centered Process: Learning about People-Centered Justice through the Rural Mobile Law Van
Get PDFThis paper is an assessment of the Mobile Rural Law Van project at the mid-point of a three-year project, turning the lens of people-centricity on the project. The observations on people-centricity do not represent the results of structured research in which people centricity is defined, indicators developed and measured. Rather, it is part of the accumulating lessons learned as the project matures over time
The Elusive Motive Requirement in Canada’s Terrorism Offences: Defining and Distinguishing Ideology, Religion, and Politics
Get PDFCanada distinguishes “ordinary crime” from terrorism offences primarily by reference to whether an act meets the Criminal Code’s definition of “terrorist activity.” The most confusing and least understood element of terrorist activity is its motive requirement, that being that for a crime to constitute a terrorism offence, the actor must be motivated by politics, religion, or ideology. How do we know when such a motive exists, or even how to define these motivations? How do we differentiate ordinary crime from terrorism if we do not know what ideologies or religions “count” and which do not? Do far-right motivations picked and chosen from numerous groups count? How about someone that is motivated to act violently by a belief in QAnon, or because of their commitment to a political protest movement? In this article we explain why the motive requirement is so in need of refinement and shed light on what differentiates ordinary crime from terrorism. To do so, we offer a comprehensive study of the legislative history behind Canada’s anti-terrorism criminal regime as well as every terrorism judgment, sentencing decision, and jury instruction issued between 2001–2021. We find that neither Parliament nor the courts have defined the motive requirement, leaving others to define terrorism as something closer to “we know it when we see it.” We thus look more broadly, including inside and outside the realm of criminal law, for workable legal definitions of political, religious, and ideological; we engage in a process of statutory interpretation to narrow the definitions; and, finally, to better understand the most complex and vexing motive—that being ideology—we look outside the law entirely to terrorism studies, sociology, religious studies, and elsewhere. Drawing on these varied sources, we offer a definition for the motive requirement that is practical for the courtroom while serving to both restrict the application of Canada’s anti-terrorism regime beyond its current incarnation and also ensure that emergent extremist activity is adequately captured. Such clarity is vital to the rule of law because the motive requirement is an element of terrorism offences and, as such, must be proved by the Crown beyond a reasonable doubt; but it is also necessary to ensure that investigations, charges, and prosecutions are based on concise understandings of “terrorist activity” and not implicit understandings that tend to marginalize some (usually minority) groups while allowing others more permissive room to manoeuvre
“The Biggest Problem With You…”: Racial Profiling and Canada’s Program of Extra-Territorial Migrant Interdiction
Get PDFOn April 3, 2019, Andrea and Attila Kiss tried to board an Air Canada Rouge flight from Budapest to Toronto. Andrea’s sister was ailing, and the couple planned to visit Canada for two months to support her family. Their travel was legitimate and lawful. Their documents were in order. But when they lined up to check in, Andrea made a mental note of a fact that was about to become relevant: as members of the Hungarian Roma community, they were the only racialized people in line.
Andrea and Attila did not reach the check-in counter. They were stopped and pulled out of line by a private security guard. They were questioned, their documents were photographed, and—minutes later—a Canadian immigration official forbade the airline from allowing them aboard the plane. And so, the only racialized people in line trying to get to Canada were profiled, turned around, and sent home without even a ticket refund. Later, they found out the official reason for their deboarding: Canada thought that there were enough “indicators” to conclude that they were not planning on staying temporarily, but permanently.
How did this work legally? Exploring that question is this paper\u27s purpose. We show how a little examined tool—the Electronic Travel Authorization—enables the overseas screening of travellers to Canada. Using evidence unearthed in litigation, we show how this tool is used to racially profile travellers and trace the origins of the program. Then, we ask a simple question, is any of this legal
Regulating Health and Safety in Capitalist Workplaces: History, Practices and Prospects
Get PDFThe chapter provides a broad overview of occupational health and safety (OHS) regulation in advanced capitalist countries with a focus on the English-speaking world. It views OHS regulation through a political economy lens in which protective legislation is enacted and implemented against the imperative of a profit-driven system of production. The chapter provide examines the historical development of OHS regulation beginning with the rise of industrial capitalism leading up to modern OHS regimes that increasing embrace mandated partial self regulation. It then considers contemporary debates over the efficacy of these regimes, focusing on the scope of self regulation, the practice of enforcement and the role of worker participation rights. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of the changing world of work and the regulatory challenges it poses
Out of sight, out of mind? Remote work and contractual distancing
Get PDFSince the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work has acquired quasi-Marmite status. It has become difficult, if not impossible, to approach the issue in a measured and dispassionate way, which is one of the reasons books such as the present one are being published. Remote work is often seen as anathema by some who associate it with laziness, low productivity and the degradation of the social fabric of firms and of their creative and collaborative potential. The notorious views of CEOs such as Tesla and Twitter’s Elon Musk or JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon come to mind, indicative – in the view of the authors of this chapter – of a certain managerial culture fearing the ‘loss of control’ that comes with remote work. It should be acknowledged that, even in certain worker-friendly quarters, the spread of remote work is accompanied by concerns about social isolation, unsustainable work intensification, the blurring of private life-working life boundaries and the deterioration of career prospects (Balzano 2022). But remote work is also sometimes portrayed as a kind of new Jerusalem for the future of work, allowing better work-life balance, greater productivity, autonomy and creativity, and higher levels of mental and physical well-being
Statutory Interpretation: Pragmatics and Argumentation by Douglas Walton, Fabrizio Macagno and Giovanni Sartor
Get PDFStatutory Interpretation is a comprehensive and nuanced account of some of the most fundamental features of the law: legal reasoning and interpretation. The book draws on philosophy, argumentative theory, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and dialectics to develop a robust theory of argumentation and pragmatics both in and outside of the law. The work is written by Douglas Walton, former Distinguished Research Fellow at the University of Windsor’s Centre for Research in Reasoning, Argumentation and Rhetoric; Fabrizio Macagno, professor at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa; and Giovanni Sartor, professor at the University of Bologna. This work represents a balance, most of all, of theoretical and practical understandings of statutory interpretation. It makes inroads into some of the most challenging abstract aspects of statutory interpretation, yet grounds itself in a space where applicability and practicality are the text’s raison d’être. Readers will come away from this book with a keen understanding of how they can interpret the law and, more importantly, how they can justify the frameworks guiding these interpretations
Saving the News: Why the Constitution Calls for Government Action to Preserve Freedom of Speech by Martha Minow
Get PDFIn Saving the News, Martha Minow, former Dean of the Harvard Law School and the 300th Anniversary University Professor at Harvard University, analyzes how the rise of internet platforms and social media has led to a decline in the viability of the American press and the spread of misinformation. Arguing that a viable press is fundamental to a constitutional democracy, Minow makes a case for the need for change and outlines the legal basis and specific policy initiatives that could be instituted to remedy the failures of the contemporary ecosystem of the news. She does so while navigating the potential constitutional barriers to such reforms imposed by the judiciary’s current libertarian interpretation of the First Amendment. In addition, she advocates for government action to combat the technological developments that are currently eroding the trust, production, and distribution of the news