Instructor(s): Trudo Lemmens

Note: Students cannot take more than one workshop for credit in a given year.

The Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto runs a regular Health Law workshop that meets on average every three weeks throughout the academic year. Students are welcome to attend and those who wish to may also take the seminar for academic credit. 

The Workshop attracts both speakers and participants from a wide range of disciplines as well as from a wide range of institutions. The goal is to introduce students to a variety of interdisciplinary approaches (incorporating law, bioethics, philosophy, political science, economy, etc.) and to explore contemporary issues in health law, ethics and policy such as the legal and regulatory issues raised in the context of the pandemic, the law in relation to medical assistance in dying (euthanasia and assisted suicide), the regulation of assisted human reproduction and new genetic technologies, the role of law in improving the health of Indigenous peoples, disability rights and health, the criminalization of the non-disclosure of HIV status, constitutional challenges related to health care, the regulation of the profession, health and human rights, the need for regulation of long-term care facilities, access to essential medicines, the use of health-related scientific evidence in the courts and in policy making, compulsory treatment of the mentally ill, disclosure of pharmaceutical trial data, the role of class action litigation to promote drug safety, and more. 

Evaluation
Students must attend all seminars (minimum 8). One additional meeting may be organized to discuss the seminar series and comment papers. In addition, students will prepare four short written papers (1,500 words each maximum) on the topic of the seminar presentation, normally a critical reflection on a paper written or recommended by the speaker. Students also have to submit for each seminar a question in relation to the topic of the seminar, based on the reading material that will be distributed in advance. This question has to be handed in by 9 am the morning of the seminar. Evaluation will be based on this written work (80%), and on participation in the seminars (20%). The questions will be considered as part of the participation grade. Note: Students must pass both the paper and the participation component to receive credit for the workshop.
Credit note
1 credit per term
Academic year
2023 - 2024

At a Glance

Both Terms
Credits
2
Hours
2
Perspective course

Enrolment

Maximum
26

12 JD
9 LLM/SJD/MSL/SJD U

5 Ph.D. Health Policy

Schedule

T: 12:30 - 2:00 pm