About Leonid Sirota

Founder,
Double Aspect;
Associate Professor, Reading Law School; Research Affiliate, UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies

l.sirota at reading.ac.uk

I am a public law scholar, currently an Associate Professor at the Reading Law School, in the UK. I am also a Research Associate at the UBC Centre For Constitutional Law and Legal Studies. Previously I taught at the Auckland University of Technology, in New Zealand. I grew up in Canada and graduated with a BCL/LLB (Hons) from McGill, as well as an LLM (in legal theory) and a JSD from the NYU School of Law. I also clerked for Justice Danièle Tremblay-Lamer at the Federal Court of Canada.

My research concerns a variety of public law topics, mostly with either a Canadian or a comparative focus. I have written on constitutional conventions, on the freedoms of expression, conscience and religion, on the law of democracy, on constitutional reform and interpretation, on judicial review of administrative decisions, the Rule of Law, and sometimes other issues. My first monograph, Interpreting the Supreme Law of Canada: Meaning, Purpose, and Principle is under contract with Hart and should come out in 2028.

If you are interested in the publications that are not freely available (i.e. those for which there is no link below or which are paywalled), please reach out to me.

Publications

Scholarly

“Can States Throw Away the Key? Critiquing Human Rights Law Approaches to Whole Life Sentences” (2026) 2026:3 European Human Rights Law Review 340
Review of The Challenges of Democracy and the Rule of Law, by Jonathan Sumption (2026) 2026:1 Public Law 151
“Fair Voting BC : The Charter, Courts, and Election Law” (2026) 34:3 Constitutional Forum 1
“What to Do about the Decay of the Conventions of the Canadian Constitution” (2025) 48:2 Dalhousie Law Journal 821
“Judicial Deference to Administrative Limitations of Rights: Between Law and Politics” (2025) 2025:July Public Law 570
« Le triomphe sans gloire de la droite juridique américaine » (2024) 2024:2 Revue de Droit Public 23
(with Mark Mancini) “The End of Administrative Supremacy in Canada” (2024) 57:1 UBC Law Review 31
“What Is the Constitution of Cyberspace Like?”, [2023] Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo 249
(As editor, with Richard Albert) A Written Constitution for Quebec? (2023) McGill-Queen’s University Press
“Purposivism, Textualism, and Originalism in Recent Cases on Charter Interpretation” (2021) 47:1 Queen’s Law Journal 78
“Compelled Speech: A Conscience- and Integrity-Based Approach” in Emmett Macfarlane (ed) Dilemmas of Free Expression (2021) 151
« Nouvelle-Zélande : Les sources d’une constitution pas comme les autres » (2021) 36 Annuaire international de justice constitutionnelle 63
“The Case of the Prorogations and the Political Constitution” (2021) 3 Journal of Commonwealth Law 103
“How not to decide a Bill of Rights case” [2020] New Zealand Law Journal 410
“Rebuilt on Sand: Canadian Administrative Law after Vavilov” (2020) 31 Public Law Review 117
“Unholy Trinity: The Failure of Administrative Constitutionalism in Canada” (2020) 2 Journal of Commonwealth Law 1
“A Citizen’s Guide to the Rule of Law” in Peter L. Biro (ed), Constitutional Democracy under Stress: A Time for Heroic Citizenship (2020) 104
“Immuring Dicey’s Ghost: The Senate Reform Reference and Constitutional Conventions” (2020) 51(2) Ottawa Law Review 313
“Through Which Glass Darkly? Constitutional Principle in Legality and Constitutionality Review” (2020) 49 Common Law World Review 131
“The Rule of Law All the Way Up” in Maxime St-Hilaire and Joanna Baron (eds) (2019) 92 Supreme Court Law Review (2d): Attacks on the Rule of Law from Within 79
“Breaking the Silence: New Zealand’s Courts and Parliament after Attorney-General v Taylor” (2019) 30 Public Law Review 13
Review of In Search of Consensus: New Zealand’s Electoral Act
1956 and its Constitutional Legacy by Elizabeth McLeay, (2018) 33(2) Australasian Parliamentary Review 174
(as editor, with Paul Daly) A Decade of Dunsmuir/Les 10 ans de Dunsmuir (2018) special issue of the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice
“Canadian Administrative Law and Good Governance” (2018) 31(3) Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice 285
“Constitutional Dialogue: The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act and the Noble Dream” (2017) 27(4A) New Zealand Universities Law Review 897.
“More v Roper: A Comment on Lawrence Solum’s Defence of Originalism” (2017) 31(3) Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo Online 635
“Was the Supreme Court right to change the law on the right to a speedy trial?” (2017) 26(3) Constitutional Forum
“Happy Sisyphus: A Review Article of G Palmer and A Butler A Constitution for Aotearoa New Zealand”, (2017) 27(3) New Zealand Universities Law Review 789
(with Benjamin Oliphant) “Originalist Reasoning in Canadian Constitution Jurisprudence”, (2017) 50(2) UBC Law Review 505
“The Supreme Court and the Conventions of the Constitution”, (2017) 78 Supreme Court Law Review (2d) 31
(with Benjamin Oliphant) “Has the Supreme Court of Canada Rejected ‘Originalism’?” (2016) 42(1) Queen’s Law Journal 107
(With Maxime St-Hilaire) “Canadian Voter Identification Requirements in a Comparative Perspective”, in Gregory Tardi (ed.), The Informed Citizens’ Guide to Elections: Electioneering Based on the Rule of Law 517 (2015)
“‘Third Parties’ and Democracy 2.0”, (2015) 60(2) McGill Law Journal 253
“True Allegiance: The Citizenship Oath and the Charter”, (2014) 33(2) National Journal of Constitutional Law 137
(with Fabien Gélinas) “Constitutional Conventions and Senate Reform”, (2013) 5 Revue Québécoise de Droit Constitutionnel 107
“Storm and Havoc: Religious Exemptions and the Rule of Law”,(2013) 47(2) Revue Juridique Thémis de l’Université de Montréal 247
“Towards a Jurisprudence of Constitutional Conventions”, (2011) 11(1) Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal 29

Policy Papers

“Bureaucrats should not be arbiters of our online world“, Macdonald Laurier Institute, April 3, 2024 (with Mark Mancini)
“(How) Can Big Government Be Kept Accountable?” Macdonald Laurier Institute, November 27, 2023
“Prioritizing Persuasion, Not Coercion: The Case against Mandatory Voting”, Macdonald Laurier Institute, June 29, 2022
Thoughts on the Supreme Court’s Narrow Rejection of the Right Not to Be Offended in Ward v Québec”, Inside Policy (Macdonald Laurier Institute), November 12, 2021
“Conscience, Integrity, and the Trouble with Compelled Speech”, Inside Policy (Macdonald Laurier Institute), October 27, 2021

General Media

“Yes, the notwithstanding clause overrides rights. No, it isn’t defensible”, The National Post, November 5, 2025
“Quebec’s constitutional plan is rushed and careless“, The Line, October 21, 2025
“David Eby’s opportunistic attempt to grasp almost total legislative power” (with Mark Mancini), The National Post, March 15, 2025
“Even shitty Canadians are Canadians under the law“, The Line, March 3, 2025
“Defunding universities will not rid them of wokeism”, The National Post, October 24, 2024
“On political funding, we must pick from among bad options”, The Line, August 29, 2023
“Image-conscious Supreme Court Chief Justice failed Russell Brown”, The National Post, June 21, 2023
“B.C. right to take on NIMBYs, but going about it in worst way possible” (with Mark Mancini), The National Post, May 10, 2023
“The likely constitutional fly in Alberta’s Sovereignty Act ointment” (with Mark Mancini and Maxime St-Hilaire), The National Post, December 13, 2022
“The Persons Case did not actually rule ‘women are persons’”, The National Post, October 26, 2022
“Michelle O’Bonsawin’s very limited qualifications for the Supreme Court”, The National Post, August 30, 2022
“On the Emergencies Act, the Senate gets an equal say. It should lead”, The Line, February 23, 2022
“We were a vote away from devastating our free-speech rights”, The Line, November 16, 2021
“Make Spaceships, Not Slogans” (with Akshaya Kamalnath), Econlog, October 12, 2021
“Doug Ford’s slogans can’t hide his attack on the rights of Ontarians”, The Line, June 25, 2021
“The trouble with doing something about ‘Big Tech’”, The Line, November 10, 2020
“In a free society, the government can, and sometimes must, direct the police” (with Asher Honickman), The National Post, February 25, 2020
“What the rule of law is, and why it matters — for everyone” (with Asher Honickman), The National Post, February 19, 2020
“For a university that deserves the name”, Newsroom, August 2, 2019
(with Mark Mancini) “The SNC-Lavalin Affair: Why Governments Are Not Angels”, Law Matters, Spring 2019
“Oil and gas bill missing out on important and orderly scrutiny”, Stuff/Dominion Post, October 11, 2018
(with Maxime St-Hilaire) “Le DGE applique bien une mauvaise loi”, LaPresse, September 29, 2018
“Tan candienses como permitan las circunstancias” (paywalled), Politica Exterior, July/August 2017 at 42
“A Critique of Democracy, Not an Attack”, Newsroom, May 1, 2017
“As a way to express one’s views about public affairs, a vote is remarkably ineffective”, Stuff/Dominion Post, April 21, 2017
(with Maxime St-Hilaire) “Comprendre la révision de la carte électorale”, La Presse+, February 27, 2017
“There Will Be No Harper Revolution”, Policy Options, October 2015
“La Secesion Unilateral: Una Perspectiva Canadiense”, Agenda Publica, September 2, 2015
“The expat vote: What we’re getting wrong, and why it still matters”, OpenCanada.org, July 29, 2015
“The Court vs Economics”, The National Post, February 19, 2015 at A19
“Le mirage de la neutralité de l’État”, La Presse.ca, August 16, 2012
“Élections: les étudiants bâillonés?”, La Presse.ca, April 14, 2012

Videos

Appearance before the Committee on Institutions of the National Assembly of Quebec, regarding Bill 1, Québec Constitution Act 2025
“Section 33: Use It or Lose It?” (with Dave Snow), Macdonald Laurier Institute, October 27, 2023
“The Canadian Constitution under Pressure: The Alberta Sovereignty within a United Canada Act”, Centre for Political and Constitutional Studies, Madrid, February 16, 2023
“Do Legislators Debate Rights When They Make Laws notwithstanding the Charter” (at 21:30), Legacies of Patriation, April 22, 2022.
“How to Decide How to Interpret the Constitution“, Runnymede Society, May 14, 2020
“Administrative Law ― Vavilov and the Supreme Court of Canada” (with Jamie Chai Yun Liew and Brandon Kain), Runnymede Society, February 29, 2020
“Bill 21, The Notwithstanding Clause, and Section 28 of the Charter” (with Geoffrey Sigalet and Bruce Pardy), Runnymede Society, February 29, 2020
“Dissecting TWU” (with Jennifer Raso and Howard Kislowicz), Centre for Constitutional Studies, September 13, 2018
“The Rule of Law All the Way Up“, Runnymede Society, January 13, 2018
“‘Dirty Word’ or Dirty Little Secret: Originalism in Canada“, Runnymede Society, February 2017

Podcasts and Interviews

“What’s Wrong with the Notwithstanding Clause”, The Curious Task, 3 December 2025
“La constitution québécoise, est-ce une bonne idée?”, Affaire classée, 19 November 2025
“Parliament after the Power Case”, Runnymede Radio, September 23, 2024
Interview with Rob Breakenridge on O’Bonsawin J’s appointmen t to the Supreme Court, Global News Radio 770 CHQR, August 30, 2022
“Constitutional Principles and the Toronto (City) v Ontario Decision”, The Law School Show, April 8, 2022
“The Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Meaning of ‘Constitutional Architecture’”, The Law School Show, March 24, 2022
“A Narrow Victory for Freedom of Speech“, Pod Bless Canada, December 3, 2021
“Léonid Sirota on Canadian Originalism”, Ipse Dixit, July 26, 2019
“Should I bother voting?”, AUT Afraid to Ask, 2017
“Is s. 33 a Loaded Gun or a Useful Tool?”, Runnymede Radio, 2017
“Are We All Originalists Now?”, Runnymede Radio, 2017
“The Politics of Judicial Appointments, Part II”, McGill Law Journal Podcast, November 4, 2015
“Should long-term expats get the vote“, CBC Radio The 180, July 25, 2015”