A Retrospective Sunday: 3am. It was the middle of the storm and the sky was shedding again. Icy raindrops hit the ground, bathed the trees, soaked the roof-tops, washed the cars, and swung upon the power lines. They clung to what they fell on, freezing on contact. Usually, I love night driving. The roads are vacant; the night is serene and enveloping. This particular evening, something...
At first glance, many people see “Meditation” when they see the term Mediation. And while meditation is certainly good for the health and mental well-being of many people, it is a different process than mediation. Mediation is a way to deal with conflict. We all experience conflict in our everyday lives. With our family members, co-workers, friends, or dealing with everyday situations with...
A Topic of Access to Justice for the Mentally Ill What makes a mental illness? While the phrase is bounced around quite often, defining the boundaries and understanding the diversity of psychiatric disorders is a very challenging task. Part of this can be attributed to the dynamic nature of psychiatric discovery. While the volume of scientific literature is constantly growing and what...
Indians. Redskins. Braves. Blackhawks. Long-held sports traditions or discriminatory cultural misappropriation? It’s a contentious debate that found itself front and centre in a downtown Toronto courtroom on Monday 17 October. Douglas Cardinal, a prominent Indigenous activist, had just launched actions with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and was...
What the Heck, Let’s Give Sportswriting a Try As a baseball fan and statistics geek, I figure there’s no harm in writing a quick analysis of the series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland ‘Indians’. Granted, the series will probably be at its halfway point by the time this gets to print, but here’s hoping it will be interesting to see how reality challenges expectation. I will try...
Perspectives in Health Hello from your Osgoode Health Law Association (HLA)! The HLA is here to introduce our student body to the area of health law, to raise awareness of important health law issues, to help students explore the many career paths in health law, as well as to foster interdisciplinary collaborations and dialogue between students and health law professionals. We are excited...
Inclusivity, like law school, is a work in progress. Source: fotolia.com Last issue, our colleague Simmy Sahdra authored a piece titled “They Say Sex Sells” for the Obiter Dicta. In this article, she correctly pointed out that Osgoode went to the Tilted Kilt for one of its O-Week activities. She also validly pointed out that our support of this venue contributes to women’s objectification in the...
On behalf of the Osgoode Hall Law Journal (OHLJ) Editorial Board, welcome to the 2016-2017 academic year! To those students returning: welcome back, you made it through another year. To the incoming 1Ls: congratulations on choosing Osgoode. We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate those selected as Associate Editors. The applicant pool was extremely competitive this...
It has come to our attention that in Lisa Bush’s article, “Indigenous Stories, Settler Bodies: Why ‘Reconciliation’ is not a Commodity” a paragraph preceded the article that was a mistake. The paragraph read: “This article is not for everyone. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of a Supreme Court case, or a cover on how to secure that Bay Street interview, move right along! If...
The 2015/2016 Obiter Dicta OCI Survey and Special Edition come courtesy the hard work of Obiter Staff Member and Osgoode student Michael Motala, and the Obiter Dicta staff. Click below to view the pdf version of the report:
OCI Special Edition
By: Matthew Dylag B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., LL.M. (Candidate 2016) Today, it is generally accepted that in order to effectively improve access to justice, one first has to properly understand the legal needs of the ordinary person. Modern access to justice literature takes as its premise that the focus of reform must be on the problems experienced by the public, not just those that are adjudicated by...
Many People Are Unknowingly Being Exposed to Antibiotics A new study published in the Lancet on 16 October estimates that as many as half of infections after surgery and more than a quarter of infections after chemotherapy are caused by organisms already resistant to standard antibiotics. The World Health Organization (WHO) has also stated that antibiotic resistance trends pose threats to...
by the Osgoode Health Law Association There are many opportunities at Osgoode Hall to learn about health law, including coursework, clubs, and volunteer experiences. Below is a summary prepared by Osgoode’s Health Law Association. Courses Legal Governance of Health Care (4 credits) Disability & the Law (3 credits) Patents (3 credits) Administrative Law (4 credits) Health Law (3 credits) Law...
Just Politics or Path to Privatization? If you have followed the debate about Ontario doctors for the past few months, you might think it is all about their income. As recently as last week, Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins reassured the Legislative Assembly that doctors’ service fees have gone up sixty percent since the Liberals took office a decade ago and that Ontario physicians are amongst the best...
A Story of Decisions and Revelations I’ve known my friend Taylor since grade ten. Even back then, he had a reputation around the school as one of the kindest, most approachable people you’d ever meet. Intelligent and charismatic, with the looks of a young Leonardo DiCaprio, Taylor had an easy-going magnetism about him, along with an uncanny affinity for human empathy that I have always envied...
The Role of the Sustainable Development Goals The United Nations voted unanimously to enact the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 25 September. “Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” officially comes into effect on 1 January 2016, essentially replacing the Millennium Development Goals that expire this year. These news SDGs provide countries with a...
Law students must learn to steadfastly defend clients’ interests and advance the public good, all while upholding the integrity of our legal system. Why must we do these things? Because we will take an oath, and in that oath, these twin obligations — to clients and society as a whole — are tantamount to one another, rather than conflicting. Professional integrity and competence then, require that...
This past summer, California passed a bill narrowing the scope of allowable vaccine exemptions for children entering public schools, private schools, and daycares. Personal and religious exemptions have been eliminated; only medical exemptions remain. This seemingly heavy-handed legislation is intended to increase the childhood vaccination rate, which has been declining over the past decades. Why...
The right to be free from non-consensual medical treatment is deeply entrenched in Canadian case law[1] and statute.[2] Consensual medical treatment embodies the principles of individual autonomy and self-determination.[3] In non-emergency situations, all medical treatments require informed, capable, and voluntary consent that is free from fraud and misrepresentation.[4] If a patient is capable...
Being a summer caseworker at Parkdale Community Legal Services (“PCLS”) has historically brought with it experiences and opportunities that are interesting, exciting, and challenging. Students are expected to carry at least twenty active files and taught necessary lawyering skills, while also dedicating time to community legal work and campaigns for systemic change. This summer, my experience at...
My attempt to wade through, and make sense of, Toronto’s first camping festival’s lineup On 10 February 2015, the GTA’s worst kept secret was finally released into the public domain. The town of Barrie, or as hipsters call it, Oro-Medonte, will be hosting the area’s first camping music festival. Headliners Sam Smith, Kendrick Lamar, and Alt-J were billed as the headliners that will drive crowds...
When Osgoode Meets Salone We worked for Defence for Children International – Sierra Leone (DCI) in Freetown, Sierra Leone through Osgoode’s student-run International Legal Partnership (ILP) for ten weeks. We drafted and submitted a constitutional review of the Constitution of Sierra Leone that was submitted to the Constitutional Review Commission of Sierra Leone (CRC). Our report consisted of...
International Legal Experience in Your 1L Summer While some 1Ls spent their summers working in law firms or taking courses abroad, I spent this past summer as an International Legal Partnership (ILP) fellow in Kampala, Uganda working at the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI). Doing everything from preparing memos to monitoring death row proceedings, I not only gained amazing legal...
After finding out about the passing of a high school friend’s partner and responding to an invitation to her memorial over Facebook, I spent the better part of an hour browsing through their pictures. This got me thinking about my less savoury Facebook activities. Then I did a little research and decided to confess to Osgoode that I can be one heck of a Facebook creep – not necessarily in that...
Watching too much TV, is there such a thing? I have been told that I watch too much TV, but I disagree – I think I watch just enough. From drama to comedy, mystery to horror, I watch shows across different networks. And, to draw the ire of the intellectual property crowd, I watch them whenever it is convenient for me. I think TV shows speak volumes about our society, morals, interests, and...