1,720,957 research outputs found
Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments in Canadian Inter-Partner Family Law Court Disputes
Full text linkThis article addresses the phenomenon of Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) from the lens of inter-partner disputes. The author begins by briefly reviewing the history of OPCA in Canada, and then proceeds to conduct a Canada-wide survey of OPCA judgments that involve inter-spouse conflict. One of the primary cases focused on is the Alberta judgment, Meads v. Meads. The author finds that there are few OPCA judgments to draw from, which he concludes is a result of the character of OPCA pseudolegal concepts. These concepts are typically intended to target government and institutional actors, rather than private individuals, meaning that these arguments are ill suited to family law situations
The History of the Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument Phenomenon in Canada
Full text linkThis article discusses the history of the poorly understood Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments (OPCA) phenomena. Drawing from various reported and unreported sources, the author begins his review in the 1950s with two distinct pseudolegal traditions that evolved separately in both the United States and Canada. Focusing on the prominent members of each era of the OPCA movement, the author explains in depth the concepts behind the movement and what it means for the legal system in Canada today. The article culminates with an analysis of the current OPCA groups and how Canadian courts should respond to future OPCA litigants, while also giving reasons as to why it is important for Canadians to take notice of this movement due to potential security risks
Over a Shadowed Threshold: Supreme Court of British Columbia Litigation Activity 1992-2022
Full text linkThe Supreme Court of British Columbia between 2002 to 2022 published “Annual Reports” that include information and statistics from 1992 to 2022 concerning Court litigation and activities. Compiled Annual Report data and calculations permit the first long-duration survey of different litigation type volumes, specific process activities, and the frequency at which court and judicial resources could not support scheduled proceedings in a provincial superior court of inherent jurisdiction. The resulting observations in this article are strong support for further and expanded quantitative investigation and evaluation of Canadian courts and their operation. While the overall volume of new Supreme Court of British Columbia activity is generally stable, extended timeline data reveals long-duration shifts in the frequency of certain litigation types, and a general decrease in trial volume, with the largest decreases being in criminal subject litigation. However, the volume of “long chambers” interlocutory processes has remained stable
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A Legion of Misshapen Cogs: Pseudolaw in Canadian Criminal Proceedings and Amicus Requirements
Full text linkThis article is the first substantive investigation of Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Argument (OPCA) or pseudolaw concepts in Canadian criminal litigation. The 575 reported Canadian court and tribunal decisions that involve pseudolaw in criminal proceedings provide insight into how pseudolaw manifests within criminal proceedings, revealing: the frequency and proportions of criminal pseudolaw litigation, typical pseudolaw “get-out-of-jail-free” strategies, and the types of charges laid against oft self-represented pseudolaw accused and offenders.
Next, this article examines judicial responses to pseudolaw in criminal proceedings following the 2023 Supreme Court of Canada R. v. Kahsai judgment that guides when and how courts must assist a self-represented accused or offender, particularly by appointment of an amicus curiae. Interestingly, R. v. Kahsai does not address Canadian OPCA “institutional disruptor” litigants. To the degree R. v. Kahsai can be applied, a court-appointed amicus curiae appears mandatory once pseudolaw strategies have manifested and are identified by the Crown or court itself
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
As the Water Grinds the Stone: Comparison of Represented and Self-represented Appellant Populations in the Federal Court of Appeal
No full textThis article reports a quantitative and statistically reliable population investigation of 552 Federal Court of Appeal proceedings that were appeals by represented and self-represented appellants who, in 2016 or 2017, appealed decisions of the Federal Court or Tax Court of Canada. Appeals by the Crown, non-Crown represented appellants, and self-represented appellants exhibited markedly different frequencies at which appeals were granted, and patterns for how appeals were terminated. Nearly half of Crown appeals were granted, but less than one in twenty self-represented appellants had any degree of success. While 70% of appeals conducted by lawyers completed the appeal process, less than 40% of self-represented appellant proceedings resulted in a full appeal panel hearing. Incomplete appeals by self-represented appellants usually terminated prior to the appeal record stage, and typically were either abandoned or discontinued. The time required to complete appeals for represented and self-represented appellants is similar. The high observed frequency of problematic litigation records for self-represented appellants supports the hypothesis that a “Distillation Effect” is concentrating abusive litigants in appellate forums.
High resolution investigation of self-represented appellant subgroups revealed differences within the overall self-represented appellant population. Self-represented appellants emerging from the Federal Court and Tax Court of Canada are different populations. The former were much more likely to have an abusive litigation history, while the latter voluntarily discontinued appeals, and were never subject to Federal Court of Appeal vexatious litigant management steps. Self-represented appellant proceedings that terminated prematurely or that were conducted by persons who are subject to court access restrictions had significantly more filed documents and docket records. Litigation management steps did not reduce the Registry and Court workload resulting from self-represented appellants subject to court access restrictions. These observations challenge modelling self-represented litigants as a single population with uniform characteristics.Le présent article rend compte d’une enquête quantitative et statistiquement fiable visant 552 instances devant la Cour d’appel fédérale; il s’agit d’appels déposés par des appelants représentés et non représentés qui, en 2016 ou en 2017, ont interjeté appel de décisions de la Cour fédérale ou de la Cour canadienne de l’impôt. Les appels interjetés par la Couronne, par les appelants représentés autres que la Couronne et par les appelants non représentés ont affiché des différences marquées en ce qui concerne la fréquence à laquelle les appels ont été accueillis et la façon dont il a été mis fin aux appels. Presque la moitié des appels interjetés par la Couronne ont été accueillis, mais moins d’un appelant non représenté sur vingt a connu un quelconque succès. Alors que 70 % des appels pris en charge par des avocats ont été menés à bien, moins de 40 % des instances dans lesquelles l’appelant n’était pas représenté ont abouti à une audience complète. Les appels incomplets interjetés par des appelants non représentés prenaient habituellement fin avant l’étape du dossier d’appel, généralement par abandon ou par désistement. Le temps nécessaire pour mener l’appel à bien était similaire tant pour les appelants représentés que pour les appelants non représentés. La fréquence élevée de dossiers posant problème qui a été observée chez les appelants non représentés appuie l’hypothèse selon laquelle un « effet de distillation » mène à une concentration de plaideurs abusifs devant les tribunaux d’appel.
Une enquête haute résolution portant sur les sous-groupes d’appelants non représentés a révélé des différences au sein de la population globale d’appelants non représentés. Les appelants non représentés devant la Cour fédérale étaient différents de ceux qui se sont présentés devant la Cour canadienne de l’impôt. Les premiers étaient beaucoup plus susceptibles d’avoir des antécédents de poursuites abusives, tandis que les derniers se désistaient volontairement de leurs appels et ne faisaient jamais l’objet des mesures de gestion des plaideurs vexatoires de la Cour d’appel fédérale. Dans les instances dans lesquelles l’appelant n’était pas représenté qui ont pris fin prématurément ou qui ont été prises en charge par des personnes faisant l’objet de restrictions d’accès au tribunal, un nombre considérablement plus élevé de documents et de dossiers ont été déposés. Les mesures de gestion des litiges n’ont pas réduit la charge de travail du greffe et du tribunal occasionnée par les appelants non représentés faisant l’objet de restrictions d’accès au tribunal. De telles observations remettent en question la modélisation des plaideurs non représentés comme population unique ayant des caractéristiques uniformes
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