Quid Novi Vol. 34 No. 010: January 22, 2013

22.2 MB·English

by  McGill University. Faculty of Law

Journal des ~tudiant-e-s
en droit de l'universit~ McGi/1
QUID
McGi/1 Law's Weekly Student Newspaper
Volume 34, n•Jo
NO VI
22 Janvler 2013 1 Januar, zz•4 2013
WHAT'S INSIDE?
QUEL EST LE CONTENU?
EDITO
RESPONSE TO "ONE L''
ANNUAL LECTURE IN HEALTH AND LAW
EDITORS IN CHIEF BILINGUISME A LA FACULTE DE DROIT - LET'S WALK THE TALK
Jeremv Boulanger-Bonnelly
Aaron Fergie CALCEDONIES
DUMBELLS AND DELAMIRE
TIRAGE MINHPAD HEENAN BLAIKIE
PUBLIC INTEREST CAREERS: FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR THE NOM
CORPORATELY INCLINED
ACTUS REUS THIS WEEK !
LE SUICIDE ASSISTE PAR UN MEDECIN
EDUCATIONAL EQUITY ADVISORY BOARD
THE GENOCIDE CONVENTION AND THE UDHR
JUSTICE JAMES CLARKE & OR. JASWANT GUZDER
OVERHEARDS
WANT TO TALK?
TU VEUX T'EXPRIMER?
Envoyez vos comrnentalres ou articles avant basera sa decision sur la politique de
jeudi 17h a Yadresse: [email protected] redaction.
Toute contribution doit indiquer le nom de Contributions should preferably be S&Dnlllled •
rauteur, son annee d'etude ainsi qu'un titre a .doe attachment (and l"d. for instance. a
pour rarticle. L'artide ne sera publie qu'a la H.docx.H).
discretion du comite de red action, qui
The Quid NOVI•S publ"~hed weekly by the studer~ts of the Faculty of litw ill McGill University. Production is made poss le through the d•rect support of students. AI~CXII¥Wem13~NIM.
les opmoons expnmees sont propres aux auteurs et ne refletent pas necessairement celles del'· quipe du Quod Novo 1 !' contPnt of th s publiution ~not necessarily reflect the views of the Mdilll Llw
Students' Assocoation or of McGoll Uruve~>~ty
JEREMY
BOULANGER
BONNELLY
Law IV
RESPONSE TO "ONE
L'J
I read with interest Jonathan Brosseau's to specific individuals. Most tellingly of the "reproduction of hierarchy" via the
article in the Quid's last issue ("One L"). I all, a refusal to answer questions carries reproduction of like-minded law stu
found it well-researched and well-writ no penalty. So it's hard to see how McGill dents.
ten. However, when it came to Mr law practices the Socratic method, let
Brosseau's description of McGill Law's alone how this causes stress to law stu While rhetorically powerful, this "sociol
ogy of the professions" approach begs a
pedagogy, I was left wondering whether dents.
central question: just whose shape are
he and I were attending the same law
school. Anyone who attended class at McGill will we being moulded into? Mr Brosseau's
know that the primary stressor related to theory assumes a unity of purpose which
In essence, Mr Brosseau alleges that professors' questions is the awkward si simply does not exist at this faculty.
McGill practices the Socratic/Langdellian lence that typically follows them. For
method, and that the Langdellian method whatever reason, most students do not Instead of a monolithic professorial es
leads to "brutalization" of law students. like answering questions in class, and tablishment, students are exposed to a
I'll return to the brutalization issue in a McGill professors do not force them to. diversity of viewpoints, most of them
moment. For now, let's focus on the The lack of compulsion or sanctions re highly critical of the status quo. If Bertha
Langdellian method, named after the lated to questioning conclusively distin Wilson was the "Great Dissenter" of the
Harvard law dean who revolutionized guishes the McGill approach from the bench, McGilllaw is full of academia's
legal education through the case method Socratic/Langdellian one. "Great Dissenters." This diversity applies
and the Socratic method. just as much to faculty governance as it
If anything, it is professors who are so does to classroom teaching. One need
Under the Socratic method, a professor cialized out of the Socratic method. A cer only attend a meeting of Faculty Council
uses questions to get students to think tain practitioner, who shall remain or the Curriculum Committee to see the
about the law, as opposed to simply lec nameless, once grew so frustrated by pluralistic nature of decision-making in
turing for the entirety of class time. Im his/her class's refusal to answer ques the faculty. Even if our professors could
portantly, the professor's questions are tions based on readings they had not agree on the need to indoctrinate their
directed at particular students, and that read that he/she screamed at the class students (already a ridiculous idea), it
student is required to reply. In fact, at a and threatened to stop lecturing unless seems fairly clear that they could never
traditional American law school, there this changed. That practitioner was not agree on a single viewpoint to which all
are penalties imposed if a student is un asked to teach the course again. students should conform.
willing or unable to answer a question.
According to Professor Dedek, a fairly Given that Mr Brosseau's brutalization ar Before concluding, I'd like to note that I
typical procedure is to give every student gument turns on the fulcrum of the So don't disagree with everything Mr
a single "pass" per semester, after which cratic method, I think that the above Brosseau wrote. As I said in my first para
each refusal to answer will cost that stu observations show that McGilllaw is not graph, the article is well-researched, and
dent half a letter grade from their final a brutalizing environment. But there is Mr Brosseau makes a critical point about
mark. another reason why I think that Mr the importance of inherent motivation.
Brosseau's portrayal of the law faculty But where he describes the alleged
The contrast with McGill could not be misses the mark. method and goals of brutalization at the
more stark. Questions at McGill are not law faculty, I think that his critique misses
central to professors' knowledge-transfer According to Mr Brosseau, all the brutal the mark. After all, it seems a stretch to
strategy. Most professors lecture, with ization that we law students experience accuse faculty that puts "The Reproduc
occasional questions sprinkled through has as its ultimate goal"to melt us into a tion of Legal Hierarchy" on its Ll syllabus
their class. When questions are asked, single shape." In other words, this is ill!.[: of attempting to reproduce that hierar
they are posed to the class in general, not posive brutalization, which has as its goal chy!
4 • 22 JANVIER 2013 • QN
AnnaLawson
Deputy Director, Interdisciplinary
Centre for Disability Studies,
University of Leeds
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
at 4:30p.m.
Room 100 NCDH, 3644 Peel
Space is limited.
Kindly RSVP at [email protected]
Recognized training activity
for the Barreau du Quebec (1.5 hours)
Abstract
This lecture will reflect on the relationship between the concepts of equality and health in the
disability context. It will consider ways in which the demands of "health" have often been used
to override those of "equality". As well as having profound implications for the lives of
disabled people, this has had significant political and theoretical repercussions. Consideration
will be given to the harmful impact, on the health of disabled people, of neglecting the
demands of equality. The lecture will conclude by taking a step back and reflecting on the
extent to which tensions between "equality" and "health" have been resolved, and on what
factors, if any, are contributing to achieving greater reconciliation. This discussion will be set
against the backdrop of international developments and, in particular, the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In collaboration .McGill Centre for Centre sur les droits de la
Human Rights personne et le pluralisme
with
and Legal Pluralism juridique de l\1cGill
QN • JANUARY 22 2013 • 5
...
Law Ill
Bl Ll NG U ISM EA LA FACU LTE DE
DROIT- LET'S WALK THE TALK
La question du bilinguisme revient periodiquement sur le L'Universite McGill, tout comme sa faculte de droit, at
tapis ici a la Faculte. I hear you. Or, cette fois-ci, je crois tache beaucoup d'importance a sa reputation. Con
que !'occasion est particulierement appropriee pour en sequemment, la Faculte (et c'est normal), cherche a se
parler, et pour en parler plus en profondeur et de maniere distinguer et a etre la meilleure, sinon l'une des
plus engagee. Depuis le printemps dernier, le Comite des meilleures. Le bilinguisme constitue sans contredit l'une
langues officielles de I'AED travaille sur la mise a jour de la des facettes qui distingue notre faculte des autres facultes
Politique linguistique de la Faculte. La semaine prochaine, de droit canadiennes. La formation transsystemique en est
le Doyen tiendra un de ses forums sur l'heure du diner sur une autre, tout comme la selection stricte des etudiants.
le theme du franc;ais et de l'anglais a la Faculte. De plus, le
Comite organisera un townha/1 peu apres pour vous con To me, this way of distinguishing ourselves embodies for
sulter directement et repondre a certaines de vos ques this Faculty a vision of audacity, distinctiveness and refusal
tions sur cette nouvelle politique (apres vous avoir fourni to fit in a mold- however one wishes to describe this
au prealable, il va de soi, un resume des recommandations mold -,a vision which should be reflected concretely in
faites par notre comite a la Faculte). every aspect that is put forward, publicly and internally, to
describe the McGill Faculty of Law. Yet I don't feel that this
M ai s de quoi par le done cette politique mysterieuse? has been the case, especially with regards to bilingualism.
On y traite, entre autres, de:
-I' usage du franc;ais et de l'anglais par la Faculte pour ses True, technically, the Faculty doesn't officially describe it
communications avec le public et les etudiants; self as bilingual per se, but requires passive bilingualism
-la langue des cours et des evaluations (cours obligatoires, from its students and advertises on the Admissions' web
« semi-obligatoires », optionnels, « cours bilingues », site that "McGill's integrated program is offered in a bilin
langue des cours de droit civil vs. des cours de common gual environment." I find the website's assertion (as well
law); as how McGill officials describe the Faculty during, for ex
- l'usage des deux langues dans les documents officiels ample, Open Houses) a little misleading; it is implied that
(Par exemple: Quel type de bilinguisme adopter? Pour part of the "McGill difference" is this co-existence of both
quels documents? Quels documents devraient etre languages, a "bilingual environment". The phrase "bilin
disponibles dans les deux langues et lesquels peuvent de gual environment" could mean the fact that francophone
meurer unilingues?);
and anglophone students study together, or that an exam
-Et j'en passe!
question for an English class might include text in French.
Yet, when new students arrive at the Faculty, I believe that
Nous sommes passes par plusieurs debats sur la seman
their expectations and vision of "bilingualism at the Fac
tique du langage utilise dans la Politique, le format de
ulty of Law" might be at odds with the environment they
celle-ci, les definitions ay inclure et bien entendu son con
will live in. And, inevitably, this creates some frictions, mis
tenu, le tout dans un esprit de conciliation et de realisme
understandings and disappointments. This is why, among
et avec pour but de realiser de fac;on efficace cette cure de
other reasons, the Committee has wished to revisit the
rajeunissement, tout en evitant trop de confrontations. 11
1992 Linguistic Policy: so that students will have some
est maintenant temps d'insuffler a cette politique une per
thing to rely on to understand what "bilingual environ
spective plus (( humaine », qui devra venir de vous, etudi
ment" means to us, what its current status is and how we
ants et personnel. Dans une perspective de reflexion
envision its progress.
generale sur le bilinguisme a la Faculte et sur les travaux
du Comite, je souhaite humblement vous exposer ce qui
Lors d'une rencontre avec les membres du Comite le
suit. I
Doyen nous mentionnait que le bilinguisme a la Faculte a
evolue de fac;on organique, parte par !'evolution de la CO-
6 • 22 JANVIER 2013 • QN
·---- - -
---- ·---- --
CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE
existence du franc;ais et de l'anglais dans la ville deMon tain issues related to bilingualism. Instead, the points I am
a
treal et la Faculte, ainsi que du contexte politique quebe trying to bring home are that: 1) we usually need to set
cois. Je comprends l'idee de cette evolution naturelle du some goals to effectively change things, and to be able to
bilinguisme a la Faculte, qui se fait graduellement, « na so more rapidly and 2) a new Policy would aim, through the
turellement ». Or, un peu comme on le fait avec des vignes, recommendations and suggestions it makes, to do just that.
cette croissance a parfois besoin qu'on lui donne une direc
tion, qu'on la soutienne et qu'on lui donne du support en We are taught here to be bold, to be critical, to dream, to
vue de la voir grandir sainement, sans qu'elle ne s'eparpille be active rather than passive when facing issues (legal or
trop. Sans trop forcer, sans rien lui imposer, on veut s'as not). This is what the Committee has tried to do by revamp
surer qu'elle possede un guide sur lequel s'appuyer. C'est ing the old Policy, which had not been once updated since
egalement l'objectif de la Politique concernant la coexis its adoption 21 years ago. I personally wished to be part of
tence du franc;ais et de l'anglais! Et nous avons besoin de that endeavour not only because of the incredible richness
votre aide pour definir clairement la forme que vous and opportunity that bilingualism brings to our classes, dis
desirez qu'elle prenne et de quoi elle sera composee. cussions, future careers and personal growth in general,
but also because of my deep attachment to this Faculty, its
Ce que nous proposons n'est pas revolutionnaire, loin de la. people, and the richness of the Quebec legal tradition we
11 s'agit plut6t de clarifier certains points inclus dans l'anci learn and, to some extent, evolve with for three to four
enne Politique et de les mettre a jour, dans le but de nous years. For those reasons, a visible and vibrant presence of
donner une vision commune de !'evolution que nous both French and English at the Faculty are very important
souhaiterions voir pour le bilinguisme a la faculte. to me.
D'ailleurs, pour quelques aspects, nous n'avons fait que
mettre par ecrit certaines pratiques deja etablies, pratiques Some of my colleagues from the Committee (namely
que nous avons inclues dans la Politique afin que celle-ci Alexandra Belley, Dominic DiFrusio and Pierre Lermusieaux)
forme un tout coherent, exhaustif et qu'elle reconnaisse have expressed their thoughts on the subject in the Quid
certains aspects positifs deja existants du bilinguisme facul (see the November 13th and 20th issues). In preparation
taire. for the Dean's Forum and the town hall that will take place
shortly after, or simply as some food for thought, I strongly
En effet, ce que nous exprimons de fac;on explicite comme encourage you to look back at my colleagues' texts, and to
de fac;on implicite dans la Politique est d'une certaine fac;on think about them and your experience with bilingualism at
que le bilinguisme (concret) est un enjeu qui nous tient the Faculty. I encourage you to discuss this issue amongst
reellement a coeur et qu'il ne devrait peut-etre pas etre yourselves and, more importantly, to tell us what you think.
a
laisse lui meme, a subir une evolution organique. Notre Email us, talk to us, email the Dean, write in the Quid. We
but est egalement d'identifier les traits particuliers du bilin truly want to take your ideas and perspectives into consid
guisme qui nous unissent ici a McGill. Le titre du lunch du eration.
Doyen porte, a juste titre, a reflexion: « French and English
in the Faculty- une politique ou un mode de vie?». En un Je ne sa is pas si ma vision personnel le de cet enjeu est en
sens, certes, on peut considerer que c'est un mode de vie, fait une expression de douce na"lvete de ma part. J'ose es
qui evolue, qui n'est pas a proprement parler, un status perer que ce n'est pas le cas. C'est a vous de me le dire.
quo. Or, cela n'empeche pas de vouloir en faire un peu plus Don't hesitate to do so!
pour donner un peu de carburant a cette evolution et dy
namiser ce « mode de vie » bilingue. Bref, il fa ut eviter de
s'asseoir sur ses lauriers et de se gargariser avec nos acquis.
This is not to say that there have not been efforts made on
the part of the Faculty over the past years to address cer-
QN • JANUARY 22 2013 • 7
8 • 22 JANVIER 2013 • QN
Law IV
Dumbells and Delamire
Being An Amusing and Possibly Insightful
Metaphor for Possession and Title of Personal
Property at Common Law
Common law property has a reputation for being complex and con simply doesn't matter that neither person owns the machine. Like
fusing. I'd like to propose a simple analogy to help understand wise, at common law, resolving a property dispute between two
some of the rules relating to possession and title of personal prop parties does not require us to develop an absolute or universal
erty. theory of ownership. All a judge needs to decide is which of the
two parties has the better right to the property. The rights of third
The analogy is the following: the way in which the common law al
parties to the lawsuit, much like the gym in our example, are sim
locates rights over personal property is very close to the way that
ply irrelevant.
men adjudicate use-rights over fitness equipment at gyms. I use
the word "men" advisedly, since for centuries all common law Finally, consider the issue of dispossession. If someone using a
judges were male, and I think there is room for a feminist analysis weight machine leaves, it is now legitimate for someone else to
of how strikingly similar to the principles of the two areas are. begin using it (i.e. to take possession). But if the original user had
left his towel on the machine, it would be considered extremely
Suppose two men both wish to use the same piece of equipment.
rude to begin using the machine even though it appeared unoccu
Who prevails? Absent agreement to share the machine, the an
pied. This towel convention is a custom at most gyms in which
swer is: whoever got there first has a better right to use the ma
placing a towel on the machine shows an intention to return to it
chine. lt seems obvious, intuitive even, that whoever arrived first
even if one is temporarily absent (to get a drink of water, for exam
at the machine should be allowed to use it. Certainly, absent some
ple). Likewise, the common law recognizes that possession does
special factor, priority in time seems to be the only way to decide
not always mean constant physical possession, and adopts its pos
between the two claims. Yet this approach mirrors both the rule
session requirement to fit the relevant community (e.g. The Tur
that possession creates title at common law, and the rule that an
bantia, Pierson v Post).
older possessory title is superior to a newer one.
So there you have it- gym-going and personal property, chattels
Note that in the above example, the fact that the machine is ulti
and cable-flys, dumbells and Armory v Delamire- okay, I'll stop
mately owned by the gym is irrelevant. In a dispute between two
now. Hope this was useful!
people over who gets to use a particular piece of equipment, it
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a
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QN • JANUARY 22 2013 • 9
Heenan Blaikie
heenanbla ikie.com
Public Interest Careers: Food for
thought for the non-corporately inclined
{Here is a Part 2 of 2 of a Public Interest Careers FAQ, based on our Facebook page, etc.
the questions and topics discussed at Public Interest Career
Day.) The only thing we can't do is provide you with a recruitment
context where all you need to do is choose among dozens of
What does the COO do for students interested in public inter
employers and click« apply». Sorry, it's impossible: unless
est careers?
they chose to follow organized recruitment timelines (like
some Ontario union -side labour firms and government organ
We organize a career fair and networking events with public
izations, which participate in OCis) all their recruitment
interest employers, we maintain and develop specialized pub
processes and timelines are different. This year, we tried to
lications and resources, we do outreach to employers and
make things easier for you by obtaining the general recruit
alumni, we provide support and coaching to help you hone
ment timelines of all our Public Interest Careers Day re
your career strategy, we arrange for you to access other COO's
cruiters. it's available on the COO website, under Career
relevant tools and events, we post conferences and articles on
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Resources Public Interest Jobs.
10 • 22 JANVIER 2013 • QN