What Counts As Evidence in the Polarized Euthanasia/Assisted Dying Debate: Lessons from a Belgian Criminal Case

In the context of the rapidly expanding, largely unbridled, #euthanasia #MAID practice in Canada, some MAID expansionists continue to deny that there are problems, notwithstanding accumulating reports of euthanasia for lack of social support and adequate health care. They often employ the rhetoric of 'anecdotes are not evidence', with some even naively pointing to a lack of successful prosecution. A critical analysis of a unique Belgian criminal case involving euthanasia by colleagues Marc De Hert, Sien Loos, Sigrid Sterckx,  Eric Thys, and Kristof Van Assche of the Universities of Leuven, Antwerpen, and Gent, is in that context uniquely valuable. See hereafter my JOTWELL review discussing why it should be read, particularly also in the context of the Canadian debate:

Parliament is not forced by the courts to legalize MAID for mental illness : Law Professors' Letter to Cabinet

Justice Minister David Lametti announced today the introduction of a bill which would delay by one year, until March 2024, the scheduled implementation of MAID for sole reasons of mental illness. Until today, the federal government had repeatedly suggested it was bound by 'the courts' to expand MAID and to make MAID also available for persons whose sole underlying medical condition is mental illness. Minister Lametti even stated in an interview for a recent investigative documentary of CBC's The Fifth Estate, which revealed troubling components of the current MAID practice, that the Supreme Court had recognized 'a right to suicide' and that MAID was a 'species of suicide'. He made similar statements in an interview for a podcast with Althia Raj of the Toronto Star. With some colleagues of other law faculties, we drafted a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, Ministers Lametti, Duclos, Qualtrough and Bennett, to challenge this problematic and in our view unfounded rhetoric of 'our hands are tied by the courts'.

Kate Mitchell

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Comparing the Levers of Prison Law Reform in Canada and the United States
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Tel:
236-334-6034
Education
Master of Laws - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2021-2022)
Juris Doctor - Queen's University (2014-2017)
Master of Public Administration - Queen's University (2014-2015)
Bachelor of Arts - Dalhousie University (2011-2014)
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2022-2025)
C. David Naylor University Fellowship (2022-2023)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics Doctoral Fellow in Ethics (2022-2023)
UCLA Dean's Tuition Fellowship (2021-2022)
Torkin Manes LLP Academic Excellence & Community Service Award (2017)
Fred S. Fountain Scholarship (2011-2014)
Lockward Scholarship (2011-2014)
H.C. (Kip) Roberts Scholarship (2014)
Margaret Nicholl Pond Memorial Award (2014)
Professional Affiliations
Member, Law Society of Ontario
Member, Canadian Prison Law Association
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Judicial Decision-Making
Supervisor
Committee Members

Basema Al-Alami

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Otherwise ‘Not Guilty’: A Comparative Study of Police Entrapment in Terrorism Prosecutions
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Tel:
416-605-8613

Basema Al-Alami is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Her doctoral thesis titled “Otherwise ‘Not Guilty’: A Comparative Study of Police Entrapment in Terrorism Prosecutions” offers a comparative critical analysis of the North American jurisprudence on police entrapment. While her research focuses on comparative counter-terrorism law across Canada and the United States, Basema’s dissertation draws on comparative criminal law and constitutional law by investigating the broader implications posed by the use of intense government stings and state informants on the accused’s constitutional freedoms of speech, religion and association, as well as on equality rights and due process. Basema is particularly interested in how Islam and ‘the Muslim’ are racialized, litigated, and instrumentalized in the courtroom, and hence, her doctoral research delves into the broader themes of equality, discriminatory profiling, and stereotypical assumptions embedded in the North American justice system. In light of this, Basema’s research traces the overt expansion of policing and surveillance of Muslim communities in North America alongside the emerging role of the media as a powerful actor in perpetuating the perception of the ‘Muslim terrorist’.

Education
Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) Candidate, University of Toronto Faculty of Law (Present)
Master of Laws (LL.M.), University of Toronto Faculty of Law (2022)
Juris Doctor (J.D.), Osgoode Hall Law School (2020)
Honours Bachelor of Arts (HBA), University of Toronto (2017)
Awards and Distinctions
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International Law (2022-2023)
University Of Toronto Fellowship - Law (2022-2023)
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International Law (2021-2022)
Benjamin Laufer Prize in International Law (2019-2020)
The Honourable N.W. Rowell Prize (2019-2020)
The Honourable N.W. Rowell Prize (2018-2019)
Dean's Graduation Award, University of Toronto (2017)
Joseph Alfred Whealy In-Course Scholarship (2016-2017)
University Of Toronto Scholar - Beatty (2015-2016)
The Erindale Admission Scholarships (2013-2014)
University Of Toronto Scholar (2013-2014)
Professional Affiliations
Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
Other information

Conferences, Workshops, and Presentations (Selected)

Interrogating Islamophobia in the ‘war on terror’ after two decades, hosted by the 12th National Conference of Critical Perspectives / Criminology & Social Justice in Ottawa (May 2023). 

United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee delegation visit to Canada, hosted by the Committee (February 2023). 

9/11 and the Canadian Settler Colony Conference, hosted by Windsor Law (October 2022). 

University of Toronto - Humboldt University Workshop, hosted by the Institute of Islamic Studies (September 2022).

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Taskforce, hosted by Humber College (July 2022).

 

 

Selected Publications

Lisa Forman, Basema Al-Alami & Kaitlin Fajber, “An Inquiry into State Agreement and Practice on the International Law Status of the Human Right to Medicines” (2022) 24:2 Health Hum. Rights 125.

Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Titilayo Adebola & Basema Al-Alami, “Viewing the International Labour Organization’s Social Justice Praxis  through a  Third World Approaches to International Law Lens: Some Preliminary Insights”, in George Politakis, et al. eds, ILO 100: Law for Social Justice (Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2019), online: <https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---jur/documents/p....

Nathan Innocente, Basema Al-Alami, Amanda Borthwick, Alfred Pepushaj, & Harmehr Sekhon. 2018. “The Teaching Opportunity Program: Integrating Undergraduate Students in Course Design, Assessment, and Teaching.” Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education annual conference, Sherbrooke, QC, June 19-22.

Research Interests
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Criminal Law 
Critical Legal Theory
International Law
National Security Law and Anti-Terrorism Law
Supervisor
Committee Members

Judicial Discretion, Systemic Racism and the Morris Decision

The Black Law Students Association, Correctional Law Association, Criminal Law Students' Association, and International Commission of Jurists UofT Chapter present "Judicial Discretion, Systemic Racism and the Morris Decision".

This panel will occur by Zoom and will focus on judicial discretion and systemic racism in criminal law. Particular attention will be given to the R v Morris decision.

We have great panelists lined up for you, including Professor Kent Roach, Faisal Mirza and Jonathan Rudin!

The Implications of Facial Recognition Technology

The Implications of Facial Recognition Technology
An Investigation through the lens of Constitutional, Privacy, and Human Rights Law

Tuesday, February 15th from 12:30pm-2:00pm

 

Léa Brière-Godbout

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Who is eligible for legal protection from discrimination? The role of the protectorate in equality discourses
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Léa Brière-Godbout (she/her) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. She is a Vanier Scholar and 2020 Viscount Bennett Fellow. Her research critically examines judicial and lay discourses about equality and discrimination in the Canadian context. Léa completed her Bachelor of Laws at UQAM and was called to the Quebec Bar in 2014. She served for two years as a judicial law clerk to Justice François Doyon of the Quebec Court of Appeals. Léa completed her Master of Laws at Yale Law School where she worked on a Criminal Justice Reform initiative for the City of New York. In 2018-19, she worked as a judicial law clerk to the Chief Justice of Canada. As a clerk living with a disability, Léa sat on the Equity committee of the Supreme Court. In parallel to her doctoral research, Léa acts as SJD advisor and co-teaches the LL.M seminar at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.


Léa Brière-Godbout (elle) est candidate au doctorat à la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Toronto. Elle est boursière Vanier et était Viscount Bennett Fellow pour l'année 2020. Ses recherches analysent de manière critique le discours judiciaire et public au sujet des notions d'égalité et de discrimination. Léa détient un baccalauréat en droit de l'UQAM et est membre du Barreau depuis 2014. Durant deux ans, elle a occupé le poste d'avocate-recherchiste auprès de l'Honorable François Doyon de la Cour d'appel du Québec. Léa est diplômée du programme de maîtrise en droit de l'Université Yale, où elle a notamment collaboré à une initiative de réforme du droit criminel de la ville de New York. En 2018-19, Léa a travaillé comme avocate-recherchiste auprès du Juge en chef du Canada. En tant qu'avocate vivant avec un handicap, Léa a siégé sur le comité d'Équité de la Cour Suprême. En parallèle de ses études doctorales, Léa agit comme conseillère académique et co-enseigne le séminaire de maîtrise de la Faculté de droit de l'Université de Toronto. 

Education
LL.M, Yale Law School (2017)
LL.B (with distinction), UQAM (2013)
D.E.C (social work), Vieux-Montréal CEGEP (2010)
Awards and Distinctions
Viscount Bennett Fellowship, Canadian Bar Association (2020)
Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, SSHR (2018-)
Doctoral Research Fellowship, FRQSC (2017)
Masters Research Fellowship, FRQSC (2016)
Dickson Medal, American College of Trial Lawyers (2012)
(...)
Professional Affiliations
Course instructor, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, 2020-
SJD advisor, University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, 2018-
Member of the Canadian Bar Association, 2019-
Senior Editor, Journal of Law and Equality, 2017-18
Member of the Quebec Bar, 2014-
Selected Publications

Léa Brière-Godbout & Marie-Andrée Plante, “Religious challenges to anti-discrimination law: the mobilisation of the “minority label”, (2020) 66: 2 McGill LJ 377 (forthcoming).

Research Interests
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Critical Legal Theory
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal History
Legal Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

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