Prof. Kent Roach reflects on the impact the Charter has had on Criminal Law

Monday, April 16, 2012

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Prof. Kent Roach reflects in the Ottawa Citizen on the impact of the Charter on Criminal Law ("The government v. the Charter," April 14, 2012).

Read the full commentary on the Ottawa Citizen website.

The Difference Between Lunchtime Prayer and a Jesus T-shirt

Ed Morgan
Wednesday, May 9, 2012

This commentary was first published by Prof. Ed Morgan in The Globe and Mail on May 9, 2012.

A public school in Toronto thinks a clergyman can be invited to conduct Islamic prayers at lunchtime on school grounds. As a school trustee explains it, “What we’re doing is what we should be doing as a school board and that is accommodating students’ needs no matter what their religion is.”

A public school in Chester Basin, N.S., thinks a student can be prohibited from wearing a T-shirt with a Christian message on school grounds. As school trustees explain it, “It is expected that students will not wear clothing with messages that may offend others’ beliefs, race, religion, culture or lifestyle.”

Does Canadian law really get such a failing grade?

Whether religious expression is permitted in schools turns on the meaning given to “freedom of religion” and “freedom of expression.” The confusion over this question calls for a review class on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Beginning in the mid-1980s, the courts determined that public schools cannot teach religion in a doctrinal way. While they can, and often do, offer history and social-studies classes that survey world religions, the mandatory separation of church and state prohibits them from teaching religion as it is taught to adherents of that religion – i.e., as a matter of belief rather than general knowledge.

Prof. David Schneiderman - "Free speech and dog walking"

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

In a commentary in The Toronto Star, Prof. David Schneiderman analyzes the decision by Justice David Brown regarding the Occupy Toronto encampment in St. James' Park ("Free speech and dog walking," November 28, 2011).

Read the commentary on The Toronto Star website.

Profs Schneiderman and Morgan comment on legalities of attempted Occupy Toronto eviction

Friday, December 16, 2011

In the Globe and Mail, Prof. David Schneiderman has written a commentary on the City of Toronto's attempt to evict the Occupy Toronto protesters from St. James' Park ("Toronto’s protesters have the right to stay put," Nov. 17, 2011).

Polygamy Reference Ruling Emphasizes the Rights of Children

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

The decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in the Polygamy Reference case makes a strong statement respecting the rights of children and the state obligation to protect them from harm. In a lengthy judgment, Chief Justice Bauman catalogues the volumes of evidence demonstrating the harms to women and children associated with the practice of polygamy around the world and in our own backyard, in Bountiful, British Columbia.

New issue of UT Law Journal honours Prof. Ernest Weinrib

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The latest issue of the University of Toronto Law Journal (62:2) is a special issue that honours Prof. Ernest Weinrib on the occasion of his being awarded the Killam Prize in recognition of his outstanding contributions to legal scholarship.

Tribute to 100th anniversary of International Women's Day: The Struggle Continues

Saturday, May 14, 2011

International Women's Day

(March 8, 2011) On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, here’s a look at what some of the Faculty of Law’s graduate students are researching to advance the cause in Canada and around the world.

Stories by Karen Gross

Lifelong champion of women’s rights: Mary Eberts

Two LLM students prepare report on violence against journalists in Mexico for IHRP and PEN Canada

Saturday, November 12, 2011

REVISED June 10, 2011.

(June 3, 2011) In a report, Corruption, Impunity, Silence: The War on Mexico’s Journalists, the Faculty of Law's International Human Rights Program (IHRP) and PEN Canada expose the Mexican government’s repeated failure to protect the human rights of journalists, its complicity in a number of rights violations against them, and the web of Mexican laws that limit freedom of expression and effectively gag journalists who seek to expose government corruption.

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