LAW 535 Equality Rights and the Charter
More equality rights seekers have lost than won at the Supreme Court of Canada which raises a fundamental question: why? To brainstorm possible answers, the first class reviews the record of wins and losses. To what should we attribute these outcomes? To equality rights doctrine, its application to factual contexts, both doctrine and context, or some other reason? In subsequent classes we examine some of the key themes that animate Charter equality controversies including, where time permits: grounds, substantive equality, discrimination, intersectionality, competing rights, proportionality, comparison, affirmative action, etc. The ciourse requires you to apply at least one of these themes to a Charter equality rights topic that you research, present in class, and write about in a factum, feminist judgment, or essay. Your objective is to assess whether Charter equality rights doctrine makes social justice available to equality seekers and, if not, what change(s) you would recommend. Put differently, what values animate the Court¿s approach to equality rights and are they consistent with yours? Cross-listed with LAW 835.
Law
https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/graduate-studies/programs-study/law/
The graduate law program at Queen’s University offers to students from Canada and from countries around the world an intellectually rich and challenging environment for legal learning and scholarship. Queen’s offers two graduate degrees in law:
Law (LAW)
https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/graduate-studies/courses-instruction/law/
LL.M. and Ph.D. students must enroll in LAW 880 Legal Research Methods and Perspectives and LAW 881 Graduate Adv. Legal Research in their first year of studies.