Advocates for the Rule of Law

Joanna Baron, Director of the Runnymede Society and member of Advocates for the Rule of Law, was recently interviewed on CBC Radio to discuss the Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in R. v. Jordan. In that case, the Court was unanimous in the result, but split 5-4 on the crucial issue of what test the courts ought to apply ...

This is the first of two articles Mr. Sirota has written in response to Asher Honickman’s essay entitled “The Case for a Constrained Approach to Section 7.” The second article will be published shortly, following which Mr. Honickman will publish a reply.   This article was originally published at Double Aspect, Mr. Sirota’s award winning blog.   In a very interesting essay written for ...

It took all of us by surprise, but Brexit is putatively happening. The leader of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker aptly deadpanned: Brexit would not be “an amicable divorce”, but “it wasn’t exactly a tight romance to begin with.” A slender democratic majority of UK residents (including foreign residents- well done, civic rights) voted on June 23rd to exit the ...

There is an uneasy tension at the heart of Canada’s legal system between the inherent conservatism of our legal principles and the inherent liberalism of the actors tasked with applying them. Traditionally, Supreme Court of Canada decisions were final and binding on lower courts. Today, by the courts’ own doing, this bedrock principle is being eroded. Last week, Ontario’s highest ...

This article will appear in the upcoming edition of Law Matters, a publication of the Canadian Bar Association Introduction The consensus in the academic community when it comes to interpreting the Charter is that more is better. There is little debate that the Charter is a “living tree,” such that its meaning must “evolve” over time so that it “accommodates ...

The Alberta Court of Appeal ruled in May in Canada (AG) v. E.F. that a woman suffering from “severe conversion disorder” — a non-terminal, psychiatric condition that causes physical symptoms — was eligible to receive “aid in dying” under the “criteria” stated in the Supreme Court of Canada’s February 2015 decision on physician-assisted dying, known as Carter I. The Attorney ...

In honour of our two-year anniversary, Advocates for the Rule of Law has commissioned a new logo that can be viewed near the top of the website homepage. The new logo incorporates a sword and the scales of justice, both of which are traditionally associated with Lady Justice, on the backdrop of a Canadian flag. We hope you enjoy the ...

Canadian law students returning to their studies in the fall of 2016 are eligible to apply for the Runnymede Society’s first Student Leadership Conference. The Runnymede Society will be hosting its Student Leadership Conference this August 26-28, 2016, in the beautiful Ontario countryside. The weekend will include legal study and discussion, training to equip students with the skills and knowledge ...

Few legal concepts have been so little understood yet so much vilified as originalism has been in Canada. Adam Dodek has said that “originalism” is a “dirty word” on this side of the Canada-U.S. border. Following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, Canadian jurists, including former Supreme Court judges, took to the media to remind us that originalism has no ...

The Runnymede Society, which is a new law student membership group co-founded by and in partnership with Advocates for the Rule of Law, kicked off this spring with a series of great events across the country this past month: March 2nd: Queen’s: Debate on Social and Economic Rights with Profs. Bruce Pardy, Tsvi Kahana, and Chris Essert. March 17th: Calgary: ...