The past few years have shown exponential growth in the influence of technology. Netflix disrupted the DVD market, Uber damaged the taxi industry, alternate finance gave goose-bumps to the Venture-Capitalists and Airbnb left its mark on the hospitality industry. Interesting developments also lie ahead of us: 3D printing is on the horizon to potentially disrupt the traditional manufacturing model...
The Overuse of Segregation and the Interplay Between Mental Health and Segregation 1,560. That is how many days 23-year-old Ontario inmate, Adam Capay, spent in continuous segregation, without trial, in a small, Plexiglas-lined cell.[i] The UN Commission on Human Rights defines prolonged segregation as anything greater than fifteen days. If the segregation exceeds fifteen days, the United...
Reflections on a ‘Supreme’ Question & Answer Sabrina Molinari and I were proud to represent Osgoode Hall Law School at the Question & Answer session of Justice Malcolm Rowe. The first article of this series described the newly modified Supreme Court nomination process and some reflections on the Justice Rowe’s responses to questions. In this article, I take the opportunity to reflect—as...
A newly-released report documents hundreds of violent incidents related to Canadian mining projects in Latin America One community, four years, five brutal murders. One victim was found in a well with his fingernails removed — a telltale sign of torture. Another victim was eight months pregnant. A third victim survived the first attack, in which he was shot eight times in the back, but was...
Osgoode Students Witness Historic Q&A In August of 2016, the Trudeau Government announced a new process for appointing Justices to the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), in expectation of Justice Thomas Cromwell’s retirement from the bench this past September. Aimed at promoting transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability to all Canadians, the new selection process called...
President Obama Calls for a Mission to Mars by the 2030s In a recent op-ed for CNN, U.S. President Barack Obama expressed a keen interest in sending humans to Mars by the 2030s. The President outlined his plan to deliver American astronauts to the red planet by promoting greater cooperation between government agencies and private companies – a partnership that will not only allow humans...
Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights/OBA Foundation DATE: Thursday, 24 November 2016 TIME: 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM LOCATION: Ontario Bar Association 20 Toronto Street #300 Toronto, ON M5C 2B8 Register for FREE at: About the Conference: Join Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights and the OBA Foundation for Canadian Responses to the Syrian Refugee Crisis: Reflections...
Do we always know when we’re being marketed to? Every day on our way to school, work, or home, when we are watching TV, listening to the radio, or are surfing social media, we may be exposed to pharmaceutical industry marketing campaigns, whether we know it or not. Is there anything wrong with being exposed to industry marketing? Well, it depends. In order to answer this question, we must...
Helping Haiti After Hurricane Matthew Hurricane Matthew, a powerful Category five Atlantic hurricane, devastated Central America and the southern United States between 28 September and 10 October, directly killing at least a thousand people and doing over five billion dollars’ worth of damage. One of the worst-hit countries was Haiti, an island nation in the Caribbean with a population of almost...
It’s not just home ownership Toronto has been named one of the hottest, most progressive, and most lucrative places to live in the world, offering great entertainment experiences, a fabulous mix of historic and modern architecture, employment opportunities, fancy living, and investment properties. Even Toronto’s musicians are on fire, furnishing Torontonian playlists with catchy rhythms...
Addressing the Innovation Gap in Health On September 14, a United Nations high-level panel on access to medicines published a report that discusses the gap between the research and development (R&D) of health innovations and health outcomes. Broadly, the report recommends the following: making intellectual property laws more sensitive to public priorities; creating new incentives for...
The Iran Nuclear Deal: Barack Obama and Dwight D. Eisenhower In 2015, the P5+1 powers (the UN Security Council and Germany) negotiated a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons-making capabilities. American President Barack Obama considered the JCPOA one of the major triumphs of his administration. Opponents of the agreement argued that it established a...
“You’re up!” Shalaw shouted this while he firmly placed an Ak-47 over my chest. I was nervous. As things unfolded, it seemed as though my life was becoming a modern sequel to Voltaire’s Candide. A few days earlier, I was in Istanbul. I was backpacking alone and had just finished two months of travelling in Europe and North Africa. The scenery in Turkey was a marvel handsome enough to...
…But All At A Cost It was hard for me to pick what to write about for my first article of my last year at Osgoode. I was mulling over all the topical controversial news topics we have in the media currently, from the dreaded US elections, ongoing issues in the Middle East, bans on the burkini in France, etc. However, lately I have observed one issue which has consistently...
$2.3 million in bursary money distributed in the Fall process We here at the Obiter like to think of ourselves as creative. When we realized there was going to be a shortfall in submissions for the first issue, we jumped at the chance to reprint some of the favourites from the 2015-2016 year. This is one of those articles, enjoy! One of the first real deadlines Osgoode students face at the...
Lessons from the field Human-centered design (HCD) is a design method used to develop products and services from the perspective of those who use them. It is an intentional process, but also a creative one. It involves immersing yourself in the problem you are trying to solve, working with the people experiencing the problem, experimenting with solutions, and, most importantly, lowering your...
Learning from the Interim Federal Health Program Canada is currently seeing a revitalized interest in the plight of refugees, which started in early September when the tragic photos of the Kurdi family’s attempt to escape Syria were widely published in the news and shared on social media. Since then, a large number of different non-government organizations, activist groups, and public...
Drought and high temperatures are killing people, crops and livestock – we must speak up by Maha Mansoor and Hilal Elver Troubles in the Middle East and Europe have distracted world leaders from tackling the growing hunger in Ethiopia caused by the country’s worst drought in at least thirty years. For example, at the most recent UN World Humanitarian Summit that took place in May the...
Ghomeshi Acquittal A Watershed Moment for Sexual Predators and Their Apologists I remember my skepticism when colleagues and acquaintances waxed optimistic about how this trial would be a watershed moment for the criminal justice system’s treatment of sexual assault. I recall thinking that even if Ghomeshi was found guilty, nothing would fundamentally change. I knew that Marie Heinen would whack...
In the End, He was Only Human On 22 March 2016, Rob Ford – former mayor of Toronto and city councillor for Etobicoke North – died of cancer. My condolences to his family, particularly his children. Rob Ford was a surprisingly complicated man, considering he was actually something of a simpleton with no capacity for subtlety or nuance. He was a demagogue who was allegedly awkward and...
By Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights – Osgoode Students interested in international law often ask what it takes to find a career in this highly competitive and amorphous area of law. What is the recipe for success and where do I find the ingredients? At last month’s International Law Career Panel, hosted by Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights – Osgoode (CLAIHR-Osgoode)...
Reflections on Law School from an Already-Nostalgic 3L My friends tell me that I am the only person whom they have heard utter the following refrain: I am devastated that law school is almost over. I know, I know. A job will allow me to pay off my debt (of course, if I stay in school forever, I can continue to accrue debt I never have to pay off), and I have been working towards becoming a...
Opposing Pneumonia Vaccine Patents in India On 11 March, Doctors Without Borders (DWB) officially launched a ‘patent opposition’ in India in order to better guarantee access to pneumonia vaccines for children. Pfizer, a US pharmaceutical company, is attempting to file a patent on PCV13, so-called because the product is a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that involves conjugating thirteen serotypes...
The Obiter’s review of Osgoode’s penultimate hiring experience. Today’s publication marks the penultimate edition of the 2015/2016 Obiter Dicta. As we approach the end of another year, this issue also fittingly serves as our first foray into one of Osgoode’s most exciting, and notorious, opportunities: On-Campus Interviews. OCI’s mark for many of us the last hiring process before we seek out...
Creating the Path to an International Career Throughout the school year, Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (Osgoode Chapter) has been working to highlight career possibilities for those interested in pursuing international human rights work. In this article, we interview Katie Flannery, the Team Leader for Refugee Status Determination and Durable Solutions at the Egyptian Foundation...