October 2nd marks the first day of the Supreme Court of Canada’s fall session.

Among the 30 cases ranging from freedom of religion, equality rights, and contract law– to name a few on the docket– what are some major cases to look out for? With news of the Chief Justice’s retirement at the end of the fall session, what can we gather from the McLachlin Court’s legacy? Could an early announcement of the next Chief Justice affect the dynamic of the Court this fall?  

On this episode, we addressed all of these questions and everything in between with one of Canada’s senior constitutional scholars, Professor Jamie Cameron.

The words, interviews, and production of this podcast are by Emma Noradounkian, Podcast Editor for volume 63 of the McGill Law Journal.

In part I of “Shifting Paradigms,” you heard about Transsystemia at McGill’s Faculty of Law–but what does this pedagogical approach look like elsewhere?

In part II of this two-part episode, we sat down with comparative and private law Professor Pascal Ancel of the University of Luxembourg and constitutional and Indigenous law Professor John Borrows of the University of Victoria on their transsystemic-inspired programs. Professor Ancel led a working group that created le bachelor transnational at the University of Luxembourg, while Professor John Borrows is currently leading the University of Victoria’s proposed joint degree in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders, alongside Professor Val Napoleon.

The words, interviews, and production of this two-part podcast are by Emma Noradounkian, Podcast Editor for volume 63 of the McGill Law Journal.

Transsystemia is the term that is controversially used to describe the academic program at McGill’s Faculty of Law. This pedagogical approach is often praised by its practitioners, welcomed but doubted by onlookers in other law faculties, and challenging, to say the least, for its students. Is Transsystemia the be-all-end-all in legal education? And what have been some of the challenges and successes in applying this approach at McGill and elsewhere?

In part I of this two-part episode, we speak with former McGill Law student and current Professor of private law, Rosalie Jukier, and McGill Law Chair of the 1995-1996 Committee on Curricular Reform, Professor Shauna Van Praagh, to hear their thoughts on these questions and more.

The words, interviews, and production of this two-part podcast are by Emma Noradounkian, Podcast Editor for volume 63 of the McGill Law Journal.

La décision de la Cour Suprême dans l’affaire Jordan est rendue à l’été 2016. Le jugement met en place un plafond ferme pour les délais des procédures criminelles. Comment en est-on arrivé là ? Comment la Cour justifie-t-elle sa décision ? Quelles sont les conséquences de cet arrêt au Québec ? Comment le gouvernement a-t-il réagit ? Que reste-t-il à faire ? Le podcast de la Revue de Droit de McGill va au fond de l’affaire avec le criminaliste Alexandre Bien-Aimé et la députée, critique de l’opposition officielle en matière de justice, Véronique Hivon.

In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled in R v Gladue that courts must courts “take judicial notice of the broad systemic and background factors affecting aboriginal people, and of the priority given in aboriginal cultures to a restorative approach to sentencing.” Thirteen years later, the Court made it clear in R v Ipeelee that the principles outlined in Gladue are not going away. Yet it is still unclear whether the Canadian justice system has gotten the message. In this episode of the MLJ Podcast, we discuss the current state of aboriginal sentencing in Canada with Jonathan Rudin, Program Director of Aboriginal Legal Services Toronto and founder of the first Gladue court in Canada.

Over the fall, the Supreme has tackled a wide range of issues from privacy to duty to consult to freedom of religion. Justice Cromwell's retirement gives us the opportunity to reflect upon its judicial legacy; Justice Rowe's appointment placed the new appointment process under the spotlight. To get an overview of the cases and issues that came before the Court, we spoke with Mr. Thomas Slade, a litigator at Supreme Advocacy LLP.

Edward Snowden. Chelsea Manning. Julian Assange. While divisive figures such as these have dominated news cycles and been the subject of fierce debate throughout the last decade, whistleblowing is neither a new phenomenon nor one that is strictly American. Who are some key Canadian whistleblowers? How might the law protect those who disclose? And what is the role of hacking in whistleblowing and what are the effects?  Yuan Stevens and Doron Lurie spoke with Prof. Gabriella Coleman to answer these questions and more.

Music in this episode: "The Collector" and "Night Owl" by Broke for Free, "Candlepower", "Readers! Do You Read?", and "We Always Thought the Future Would Be Kind of Fun" by Chris Zabriskie, "hydroscope" by Gallery Six, "In the Streets" by Indian Wells, "Chantiers Navals 412" by LJ Kruzer, and "Lips" by Plurabelle.

Every law society in Canada requires that prospective lawyers satisfy some version of the requirements of good character and mental fitness. In this episode, we discuss the meaning, purpose and effectiveness of these requirements with Professor Alice Woolley of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law and Mr. Raj Anand, a partner at WeirFoulds LLP and bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

L’action collective existe au Québec depuis 1978. Prenant pour exemple le très médiatisé recours contre les fabricants de tabac, nous dressons le portrait de cet outil procédural, ainsi qu’un bilan de son influence sur le paysage juridique québécois. Nous discutons avec Me Philippe H. Trudel, associé au cabinet Trudel Johnston & Lespérance, Me Jean-Saint-Onge, Ad. E., associé au cabinet Lavery, ainsi que le professeur Daniel Jutras, Ad. E., de la Faculté de droit de l’Université McGill.

Quebec’s class action regime has been around since 1978. Using the highly publicized class action against tobacco manufacturers as an example, we discuss the typical procedures followed in class action litigations and the impact of this regime on Quebec’s legal landscape. We speak with Me Philippe H. Trudel, partner at Trudel Johnston & Lespérance, Me Jean-Saint-Onge, Ad. E., partner at Lavery, and professor Daniel Jutras, Ad. E., of McGill’s Faculty of Law.

This is the second of a two-part podcast on revenge porn, tort law and privacy. Does Ontario's tort of public disclosure of private facts, recently recognised in Doe 464533 v ND, extend to content-hosting websites or anonymous users? How much should victims of revenge porn be compensated? What is the role of tort law in protecting fundamental freedoms, particularly as they relate to women’s rights?

We spoke with internet lawyer Allen Mendelsohn, civil liberties expert Cara Zwibel and comparative legal scholar Giorgio Resta to tackle this complex issue.

You may have heard of revenge porn. But what legal recourse do you have if someone publicly shares a sexually intimate image or video of you? Does Canadian law respond adequately to such invasions of privacy? Are there broader systemic problems when the courts attempt to adjudicate on legal issues involving the internet? 

Yuan Stevens and Sammy Cheaib use the 2016 Ontario Superior Court case Jane Doe 464533 v ND as a jumping off point for this vital discussion. We spoke with internet lawyer Allen Mendelsohn, civil liberties expert Cara Zwibel and comparative legal scholar Giorgio Resta to tackle this complex issue. This is part one of a two-part episode.

The conflict in Syria has resulted in one of the largest refugee exoduses in recent history, displacing more than 12 million Syrians, 4 million of which have left the country entirely. In this episode, we examine the terminology used to describe the current crisis, Canada’s response to the situation, and avenues that might improve the protection of refugee rights in the future. We speak with Francois Crépeau, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants, and Paul Clarke, Director of Action Réfugiés Montréal.

In this episode, we speak with Mr. Dennis Edney, lawyer for former Guantanamo Bay detainee Omar Khadr. We discuss the balance between national security and civil liberties, the conception of the rule of law in Canada, and the next steps in Omar Khadr's case.

The former federal government has been criticized for allegedly picking judges based on political considerations and in a non-transparent manner. In the second part of a two-part episode on the federal judicial appointment process, we look into whether the current process needs to be reformed and, if it does, how. We speak with Leonid Sirota, J.S.D. Candidate at the New York University School of Law and Professor Rosemary Cairns Way from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law.