Judicial Decision-Making

In a commentary in the Ottawa Citizen, Prof. Kent Roach argues that the federal government's proposal in Bill C-75 to eliminate peremptory challenges in jury selection is an important first step towards ensuring representative juries ("Ending peremptory challenges in jury selection is a good first step," April 2, 2018).

Read the full commentary on the Ottawa Citizen website, or below.

Amanda Carling, Manager of Indigenous Initiatives, and Prof. Kent Roach are among the co-authors of a commentary in the Globe and Mail calling on the federal government to amend the criminal code to allow judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentences if they give specific reasons for doing so, as recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ("Mandatory minimum sentencing should be Trudeau’s first resolution," January 2, 2018).

In a commentary in the Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach and the University of Ottawa's Craig Forcese analyze the issues around a federal government proposal to allow the use of secret evidence in civil proceedings ("Secret evidence should not be allowed in civil cases," October 20, 2017).

Read the full commentary on the Globe and Mail website, or below.

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, SJD student and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Scholar Daniel Del Gobbo writes about rethinking the way that the law handles sexual violence and introducing the option of a restorative justice process ("In cases of sexual violence, justice can come from outside the courts," July 25, 2017).

Read the full commentary on the Toronto Star website, or below.

In a commentary in the Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach argues that a Senate committee's recommendation that Parliament remove stays as a remedy for violating the Charter right to a trial in a reasonable time is a flawed proposal ("Legislation to end stays is not the answer to court delays," June 21, 2017).

Read the full commentary on the Globe and Mail website, or below.

In a commentary in the Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach analyzes Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall's use of the notwithstanding clause and the constitutional judicial decision about funding Catholic schools that triggered it ("Is Brad Wall really defending school choice with his use of the notwithstanding clause?", May 2, 2017).

Read the commentary on the Globe and Mail website, or below.

In a commentary in the Ottawa Citizen, SJD student Andrew Flavelle Martin discusses the danger created by cases in both the US and Canada where judges have been targeted by elected officials ("Targeting a judge isn't OK, whether in the U.S. or Canada," February 9, 2017).

Read the full commentary on the Ottawa Citizen website, or below.