Law Society of UTSC

By Caitlin Whittier  My name is Caitlin Whittier. I am a fifth year student and external moot director for the LSOU. Beyond my wildest imagination, I made it to the final round of the Highland Cup Mooting Competition of 2025 as a second-time mooter, alongside my partner who was mooting for the first time. For those of you who have never mooted before, essentially what it entails, is analyzing the respondent and appellant factums of the court case, creating submissions grounde

Written By: Samuel Jacob Citation: R. v. Bissonnette, 2022 SCC 23, [2022] 1 S.C.R. 597 Case Summary In May of 2022, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled on R. v. Bissonnette, a case regarding the constitutionality of consecutive parole ineligibility periods for murder. The SCC decided that Section 745.51 of the Criminal Code, which allowed judges to apply 25-year parole ineligibility periods consecutively, was unconstitutional (Major, 2024, p. 50). R. v. Bissonnette is a

By Catie Whittier  A decade has passed since Carter v. Canada (2015), where the Supreme Court of Canada made the decision to legalize the practice of physician assisted dying and strike down the law that criminalized it. The aim of this publication is to provide a comprehensive review of the case and examine how it has been applied in the real world, as well as well-known figures who have been approved for medical assistance in dying.  Carter v. Canada (2015) In 2011, Gloria

Written By: Jissana Ahad Legal Terms 1.  Justiciable:  a matter appropriate for court decision 2. Remitted:  when a higher court returns a case to a lower court 3. Statutory Obligation:  a duty created by law 4 . Cap-and-Trade System:  a policy limiting emissions through tradable allowances 5.  Climate Governance : government control and accountability over climate action Case Name & Citation Mathur v. Ontario, ONCA 762 [2024] Facts A group of seven young climate activists in

Written By: Aaesha Angbin Ahmed Legal Terms 1.  s. 38(1)(c), Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA):   A provision under Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that allows immigration officers to find an applicant medically inadmissible if their health condition “might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demand on health or social services.” 2. Excessive demand:  A legal concept within s. 38(1)c) of the IRPA referring to a level of anticipated use of pub

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau signing the Proclamation of the Constitution Act, 1982 Written By: Aaesha Angbin Ahmed Legal Terms 1.  Section 7 (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms):   Guarantees every individual the right to “life, liberty, and security of the person.” 2. Judicial Review:   The power of courts to invalidate laws passed by Parliament or legislatures that violate the Constitution or Charter rights. 3.  Charter Interpretation:   The judicial process