Asper Centre Constitutional Roundtable with Professors Kerri Froc and Jean-Christophe Bédard-Rubin on Hak v. Attorney General of Quebec

The Asper Centre's Constitutional Roundtables are an annual series of lunchtime discussion forums that provide an opportunity to consider developments in Canadian constitutional theory and practice.The series promotes scholarship and aims to make a meaningful contribution to intellectual discourse about Canadian and comparative constitutional law.

Rowan Meredith

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Beyond Marrakesh: Copyright Law Barriers to Accessibility for Disabled Persons
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Rowan (she/her) is an SJD student at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law with research interests at the intersection of copyright and intellectual property law and human rights. Her LLM thesis considered how Canadian copyright law could better engage with Indigenous conceptions of intellectual property. During her JD program, she published a paper analyzing whether fictional languages such as High Valyrian from Game of Thrones are properly the subject of copyright protection in the United States.

Rowan’s doctoral thesis focuses on eliminating barriers to accessibility for disabled persons under copyright law. She studies disability exceptions to copyright law passed in compliance with the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled, and asks whether these exceptions effectively meet the needs of disabled persons. Her research analyzes these exceptions from both a copyright theory perspective and a human rights/anti-discrimination perspective.

Rowan has a JD from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) specializing in Entertainment, Media, and Intellectual Property Law, where she graduated third in her class. She also graduated with distinction from an LLM in Media Law at Queen Mary, University of London. Rowan is called to the bar in both British Columbia and California and has practiced as in-house legal counsel at a social media company with a focus on licensing.

Outside her interest in law, Rowan enjoys highland dancing and playing soccer. She is also a Board Member and the Chair of the Governance Committee at QMUNITY, BC’s Queer, Trans, and Two-Spirit Resource Centre.

Education
LLM specializing in Media Law, Queen Mary University of London, 2019 (with distinction)
JD specializing in Entertainment, Media, and IP Law, UCLA, 2018 (graduated 3rd in class)
BA in Slavic Studies, University of Victoria (graduated with highest GPA in Humanities Faculty)
Awards and Distinctions
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International Law and Intellectual Property, University of Toronto (2023-2024)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship, University of Toronto (2023-2024)
UCLA Law Leydorf Scholar for research assistance, UCLA School of Law (2018)
Michael T. Masin Scholar for top academic achievement, UCLA School of Law (2016)
Shepard Broad Scholarship for top academic achievement, UCLA School of Law (2016)
Dean’s Merit Scholarship, UCLA School of Law (2015, 2016, 2017)
Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award, University of Victoria (paper topic: LGBTQ+ Rights in Russia and the Sochi Olympics) (2013-2014)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of British Columbia
State Bar of California
Selected Publications

Rowan Meredith, “Are Fictional Languages Copyrightable?” (April 2022), online: CBA BarTalk <https://www.cbabc.org/BarTalk/Articles/2022/April/Features/Are-Fictional- Languages-Copyrightable>.

Rowan Meredith, “Nuhor Lir Gurenna (I Will Take What Is Mine): The Copyrightability of Fictional Languages” (2018) 2018:6 Entertainment (Droit, Médias, Art & Culture) 420- 40.

Rowan Meredith and Sharon Sutherland, “Dream Queer: Does Fitz Offer Positive Bisexual Representation on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.?” (2017) 15:2 Slayage: The Journal of Whedon Studies.

Research Interests
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Intellectual Property Law
Supervisor
Committee Members

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:

Megan Pfiffer

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Toward a Rights-Based Theory of Substantive Review
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Megan Pfiffer is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, and legal, political, and moral philosophy. She is also the managing editor of the University of Toronto Law Journal. Her thesis explores the idea of justification in administrative law and will reframe contemporary debates on substantive review. Megan received her JD from Queen's University where she was awarded the Silver Medal in Law for achieving the second highest academic standing in her graduating class, as well as the Dean's Key Award for best embodying the signature values of Queen's Law. She then articled at a leading Toronto litigation boutique and clerked for Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Megan completed the BCL at the University of Oxford with distinction. 

Education
BCL, University of Oxford (with distinction)
JD, Queen's University
BA (Hons), Queen's University
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2023-2026)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics - Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2022-2023)
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2022-2023)
Onora O'Neill Prize in Philosophy, Law and Politics (2022)
Faculty of Law and Brasenose College Scholarship for the BCL (2021)
Medal in Law – Second Highest Standing (2019)
Dean's Key Award (2019)
Denis Marshall Contribution Award (2019)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2019)
Christopher Riggs Administrative Law Scholarship (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Administrative Law (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Legal and Political Philosophy (2019)
Dean's Gold Scholar Award (2018)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2018)
Queen’s Law Prize in Law and Poverty (2018)
Dean’s Silver Scholar Award (2017)
Aird & Berlis LLP Student Award for Overall Academic Achievement (2017)
R.W. Leonard Scholarship in Law (2017)
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Scholarship (2017)
David Sabbath Scholarship (2017)
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Prize in Torts (2017)
Queen’s Law Prize in Constitutional Law (2017)
Queen’s University Entrance Scholarship in Law (2016)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Committee Members

Noy Naaman

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Queer Reproductive Justice: Time, Border and Affect
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5

Noy Naaman is an Ontario Trillium & Connaught International Scholar at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in the collaborative programs of Sexual Diversity Studies and Jewish Studies. His research explores the role of time, borders and affects in conflicts around reproductive rights and parental determination. Noy completed a Master of Law degree (LLM) from Columbia Law School as a Human Rights Fellow and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law.

Education
S.J.D. Candidate, University of Toronto Faculty of Law (2018-present)
LL.M., (Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar), Columbia Law School, New York (2017)
LL.B. (Magna cum laude), Tel-Aviv University Faculty of Law, Israel (2014)
Awards and Distinctions
Ontario Trillium Scholarship
Connaught International Scholarship (declined)
Sarah Weddington Writing Prize co-sponsored by If/When/How, the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at Berkeley Law
ICON-S-IL: Junior Researcher Award for Outstanding Research in Public Law
Graduate Fellowships In Reproductive Rights For Developing Southern Countries
David Rayside Graduate Students Award
Granovsky-Gluskin Graduate Scholarship Fund
Israel And Golda Koschitzky Fellowship In Jewish Studies
Jack Hallam Uc'52 Graduate Scholarship In Sexual Diversity Studies
Shiff Family Graduate Student Endowment Funds
Tarek Heggy Graduate Scholarship
University of Toronto Faculty of Law Doctoral Fellowship
Professional Affiliations
Israeli Bar Association
The Law and Society Association
The Association for the Study of Law, Culture and the Humanities
The Association for Israel Studies
Feminist Legal Theory Collaborative Research Network
Selected Publications

Article

The Non-Marital Presumption, _ The American Journal of Comparative Law (co-authored with Ayelet Blecher-Prigat & Ruth Zafran) (forthcoming 2024). 

 Affective Reproductive Legality,  35(1) Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities (forthcoming, 2023-4). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4374756

Parenthood Based on Conjugality: Dual Motherhood as a Case-Study, Tel-Aviv University Law Review (Iyunei Mishpat ) (forthcoming, 2023) (first author, co-authored with Ayelet Blecher-Prigat & Ruth Zafran) (cited by the Supreme Court of Israel) [Hebrew]. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4001994

The Paradox of Same-Sex Parentage Equality, 100 (1) Washington University Law Review (2022). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4048052

Bordering Legal Parenthood, 33(3) Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities (2022) (recipient of the ICON-S-IL Junior Researcher Award for outstanding research in public law). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4057501

Timing Legal Parenthood, 75 (1) Arkansas Law Review (2022) (recipient of the Sarah Weddington Writing Prize for outstanding student research in reproductive rights). https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3993584  

Temporal Analysis of Judicial Parental Order, Mishpat Umimshal (Law and Government) (Haifa University Law Review) (forthcoming, 2022) (cited by the Supreme Court of Israel) [Hebrew]. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3916645

Chapters in Books:

The Abolition of Legal Marriage in Israel as a Potential Queer/Religious Project in Queer and Religious Alliances: Friendship in Family Law and Beyond (eds., Nausica Palazzo & Jeff Redding, forthcoming in Anthem Press, 2022) (co-authored with Ayelet Blecher-Prigat)

Judicial Parental Order as a Means of Recognizing Same-Sex Parenthood – The Israeli View, in 2021 International Survey of Family Law 283 (2021).

Reviews and Comments: 

Queering Family Trees: Race, Reproductive Justice, and Lesbian Motherhood by Patton-Imani Sandra, Law & Society Review 56 (1)  (2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/lasr.12596

Research Interests
Contracts
Critical Legal Theory
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Family Law
Feminist Analysis of Law
Legal Theory
Reproductive and Sexual Health Law
Sexuality and the Law
Supervisor
Committee Members

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