deference

January 25, 2015

Contesting Expertise in Prison and at Large

I wrote on Thursday about a very interesting article by Lisa Kerr, “Contesting Expertise in Prison Law,” which argues that courts should be less deferential to prison administrators and should take facts, especially social science evidence about the real-life operation of prisons and the lives of prisoners into account, as well as that lawyers need to Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

Charter, deference, evidence, expertise, prison, social science
January 22, 2015

Fighting Expertise with Expertise

Lisa Kerr, a brilliant colleague of mine at the JSD programme at NYU and soon-to-be professor at Queen’s, has recently published a fascinating article called “Contesting Expertise in Prison Law,” explaining the practical and normative importance of expertise and evidence in prisoners’ rights adjudication. I am no doubt biased, but I think it deserves to be read Continue reading

Constitutional law, Criminal Law/Policy

Canada, Charter, deference, evidence, expertise, prison, social science
January 11, 2015

A Heap of Trouble

It’s just one decision, and in all likelihood a legally correct one at that ― and yet, precisely because it is likely correct, it illustrates any number of things that are wrong in Canadian law: Thibault c. Da Costa, 2014 QCCA 2437. The case arose out of disciplinary proceedings instituted by the syndic of the Continue reading

Administrative Law, Criminal Law/Policy

deference, reasonableness, retroactivity, Rule of Law, standard of review
June 30, 2013

You’re Fired!

Earlier this month, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal issued a decision which, if legally predictable, offers us a useful opportunity to think about some serious questions in Canadian administrative law. At issue in Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Government of Saskatchewan, 2013 SKCA 61, was the constitutionality of s. 20 of Saskatchewan’s Interpretation Act, 1995, which Continue reading

Administrative Law, Constitutional law, The Justice System

deference, judicial independence

deference

Contesting Expertise in Prison and at Large

Fighting Expertise with Expertise

A Heap of Trouble

You’re Fired!