Canadian Constitutional Law

In a commentary in The Globe and Mail, SJD student Kyle Kirkup looks at the upcoming the Supreme Court of Canada decision on Canada's prostitution laws, arguing that the court should strike down the three provisions currently restricting sex work ("With sex-work ruling, Supreme Court can be on the right side of history," December 17, 2013).

By Vito Cupoli

“Constitutional rights seem like an obscure subject for most Canadians, until their own rights are adversely affected,” said alumnus David Asper, LLM 2007. Five years later, a clear picture emerged on Nov. 8, 2013 of the influence of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights on the definition of rights in Canada. 

Prof. David Schneiderman and second-year JD student Matthew Burns have written a commentary in the National Post looking at the potential impact of the Supreme Court of Canada's upcoming decision on the constitutional requirements to reform the Senate ("A recipe for deadlock," November 13, 2013).

Read the full commentary on the National Post website, or below.

The Faculty of Law is saddened to hear about the passing of Prof. Richard Simeon, 70, on October 11, 2013, one of Canada's most notable political scientists. He was cross-appointed to the Faculty for many year from the Department of Political Science. A memorial is set for later this fall.

Professor Kent Roach, Wilson-Prichard Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, was awarded an esteemed Trudeau Foundation Fellowship today, worth $225,000, in recognition of his outstanding scholarly and pro bono contributions in constitutional, human rights and anti-terrorism issues.

Three faculty members have been cited in a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on whether the requirement for new citizens of Canada to swear an oath of allegiance to the Queen. In his decision, Justice Edward Morgan cited articles by Professors Lorraine Weinrib, Ayelet Shachar, and Ran Hirschl. He also cites former faculty member Sujit Choudhry.

See the full decision on CanLII.

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Denise Réaume argues that, in the name of secularism and rejection of Quebec's religiously claustrophobic past, the Parti Québécois' Charer of Values in fact re-enacts that history of insularity ("‘Dead hand of the Church’ evident in Quebec’s debate on values," September 19, 2013).