RSS FeedCareers in Labour Law
A panel of experts spoke at the University of Western Ontario on careers in labour law on Feb. 14, 2008.
Planning, not Stressing, over your Career
As law students progress through their second semester of school, they invariably worry about obtaining a summer job after their first year.
Andre Bacchus, former Acting Director of the Career Development Office at Osgoode Hall Law School, provided some tips for first year law students. Mr. Bacchus is the Assistant Director of Professional Development Heenan Blaikie LLP.
The complete slides are available here.
(Reproduced with Mr. Bacchus’ permission) Read more
Crack Tax “Unfair” to Pushers
Gov. Spitzer of New York has proposed a state tax on drug dealers that would exempt from criminal prosecution.
An agreement of confidentiality would also be issued to the dealer,
…none of the information may be used against the dealer in any criminal proceeding [other than a tax crime] unless it has been obtained independently
New York is modeling the proposed law on measures in other states, where stamps are issued to marihuana (sic) to demonstrate it has been paid for. Interestingly enough, more stamp collectors are buying the stamps than drug dealers are.
Tennessee actually netted $2 million in the first year of its program. The irony is that funds are used to fight drug trafficking.
Republicans aren’t usually ecstatic about raising taxes, and not everyone is high about cashing in on crack.
Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry is opposing the bill. Not because it’s stupid (it is).
But because drug dealers supposedly don’t have enough money as it is, and we wouldn’t want to burden that portion of the population with further financial hardships.
Thanks to Lawrence Gridin of UWO Law for the heads up.
First-Year Law Student Teaches Ethics to Chinese Delegation
(reproduced with the author’s permission)
First-Year Law Student Teaches Ethics to Chinese Delegation
TORONTO – Omar Ha-Redeye, a law student at the University of Western Ontario, presented a seminar on ethical behaviour in disasters to a diplomatic delegation on Nov. 9, 2007.
The Chinese dignitaries were from China, and represented the Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). They were in Canada for one week, on a trip to meet with specialists in disaster management and learn from best practices here.
Mr. Ha-Redeye worked internationally in disaster and emergency management prior to starting law at the University of Western Ontario in September 2007. He shared an ethical model he developed in the review of successes and failures of major environmental and unnatural disasters.
The topics covered included the SARS epidemic in Canada, relief to families of Sept. 11, 2001, and the 2004 Tsunami in South-East Asia.
“In the study of ethics, there is no one single right course of action,” said Mr. Ha-Redeye. “What we try to do is present different ethical approaches, and try to reconcile competing needs in an emergent situation.”
Mr. Ha-Redeye explained that in disasters and emergencies there is little time for extensive ethical analysis, requiring professionals to be at least be familiar with ethical theory. The model he presented could also be used in other fields, or in daily situations in life.
First-year law students study ethics in their Spring semester of law at the University of Western Ontario. Western students begin their first class of ethics on Feb. 13, 2008.
“Although I am familiar with ethical concepts, their application specifically to the field of law is something I look forward to,”said Ha-Redeye.
Discussion around ethical behaviour in the legal profession has increased in recent months following the release of a book by a former Dean of Western Law, Phillip Slayton, entitled Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada’s Legal Profession.
The training session was held at the Holiday Inn in downtown Toronto, and was hosted by the Foundation for International Training (FIT).
Below: Omar Ha-Redeye offers a session on ethics in disasters to a diplomatic delegation from China (Photo Credit: Omar Ha-Redeye)
Notes
Western Law was featured in the current issue of the CBA National magazine for the legal study of ethics. Western was the first law school to offer a mandatory ethics class in Ontario, and the first to have a mandatory course in the first year.
Ethics is usually more uniformly required in other jurisdictions.
Updates
The Law Society of Upper Canada is debating whether ethics should be a mandatory subject in Ontario.
MIT: Intro to Copyright Law (US)
Massacussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a free open course available on Introduction to Copyright Law.
Although the course content has an American focus, there are considerable implications between intellectual property and NAFTA.
The course comes with a complete set of readings, assignments, and video lectures.
You can dowload the entire course in zipped format here.
(Relationship) Advice to Law Students
If I could give one piece of advice to my fellow law students it would be: When you go to moot, don’t forget your suit.
If I could give two pieces of advice I would also recommend not to do this on Valentine’s Day. Or anything remotely similar.
M E M O R A N D U M
To: My Shmoopy Bear
From: Your Cuddle Bun
Re: The Current State of Rob and Martha’s Relationship
Date: June 25
Regional Discrimination in Immigration
Wait times are up.
And no, we’re not talking about health care.
Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis reports that applications for immigrations have increased by 20 per cent since 2004.
But what’s worse is that the disparaties are discernable over different geographic regions, up to 2,300 per cent longer (that’s statistically significant, for those of you with stat backgrounds).
Karygiannis said,
There’s no excuse for discrimination…
Why are we not looking at people as people?
…Things should move at the same length of time – whether it’s from Greece, from Europe, from south Asia, or from China.
Applicants from Beijing, Seol, and Ankara are often processed the fastest, with applicants from Singapore, Guatamala, and Cairo among the slowest.
The skilled worker category experienced the worst increase in times. The percentage of temporary residence visas refused remained the same.
Stratification in other areas (from best to worst) include:
- Dependent Children: Vienna (best), Jamaica, Damascus, London, Haiti, Guatamala (worst)
- Parents and Grandparents: Sao Paolo, London, Mexico, Colombo, Beijing, Rabat, Guatemala, Islamabad, New Delhi
- Skilled workers: Lima, Paris, Vienna, London, Rome, New Delhi, Islamabad, Beijing, Kiev
- Spouses and Partners: Taipei, Buffalo (NY), Buenos Aires
- Temporary Resident Visas: Americas, Asia-Pacific, African and Middle East
Break Your Mother’s Back
Unconscionable Organ Donations
“Dr. Horror” Captured
An internationally wanted physician from Brampton, Ontario, was caught in Nepal last week.
Dr. Amit Kumar was wanted for harvesting organs from poor Indians, usually sold to more affluent people, including international citizens.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoPPxJSn_ZQ[/youtube]
An Ethical Debate
The Kumar incident has sparked an ethical dialogue over organ donation.
Andrew Chung of The Star states,
Some libertarians would say that as individuals, we should be able to choose, if we so desire, to sell one of our two kidneys. It’s my kidney, after all, and I can do what I like with it.
Chung quotes Michael McDonald, of the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics,
It’s not just another piece of property that we own, like a watch…
Who owns the body? There are just some things that are not to be bought or sold, not marketable quantities.
Chung also cites Leigh Turner, McGill University professor at the Biomedical Ethics Unit,
If a decision is uncoerced, if no one’s forcing you, you should be in a position where you can make the choice and live with the consequences…
But once you add poverty and real inequality to the mix, suddenly choice and autonomy starts to look a lot murkier.
Leigh’s last point refers a form of procedural unconscionability, a classical concept in the equitable courts of common law used to protect vulnerable parties. Equity was distinguished from the rest of common law by its intense focus on ethical issues to achieve justice.
Using the case of Dr. Kumar can help illustrate some of the principles of this equitable doctrine.
Defining Procedural Unconscionability
Procedural unconscionability is a type of equitable fraud, not involving a misrepresentation of facts, but rather through the conduct of one party in obtaining assent.[1]
Conduct is evaluated by examining whether parties meet on equal terms, and if they were taken advantage of as a result.[2]
The court can consider this a form of equitable duress which can produce an unfair result and therefore set aside to avoid perpetuating injustice.[3]
In addition to the reasonableness, the court will look at how equitable a transaction is, and how conscientious the other party is.[4]
Unconscionability therefore does not require deceit, and can be caused by distress, recklessness, wildness, or carelessness. [5] The characteristics of the relationship between the parties are also inconsequential for the purposes of unconscionability.[6]
Two Elements of Unconscionability
The presumption of fraud is established through a proof of inequality of bargaining power, and an undue advantage or benefit that impairs the weaker party from protecting their own interests.[7]
This can commonly occur between two parties where one is astute in business, and the other is older and vulnerable, and the former use their power over the other to their advantage.
Elements identified as criteria for vulnerability include ignorance, need or distress.[8]
Community Standards Test
Despite their interests in protecting vulnerable parties, the court does encourage to take responsibility for their own lives and decisions.[9] This balance is achieved by looking at the broader context in which the contract occurs through a community standards test.
A British Columbia Court of Appeal case found that a transaction between a businessman and a Native fisherman was unconscionable, and rescinded it as it impugned commercial realties.[10]
This has been followed by courts in other jurisdictions, specifically looking at the tactics used to obtain the contract. A more recent case from the B.C. Court of Appeal affirmed the use of the given views of a community,[11] but the dissent preferred assessing only if it was fair, just and reasonable.[12]
Awareness of Party
Another element of unconscionability is the potential need for the stronger party to be aware of the other’s vulnerability.
Canadian courts are largely silent on this issue, but the current status is that it is not considered material whether the stronger party was unaware of the other’s weakness, or even if they had no notice or indication that such weakness might be present.[13]
Procedurally Unconscionable
Harvesting organs from poor people in
Some of the poorest people on the planet, can they really be making an autonomous choice that by not selling the kidney they can’t buy food to eat? It’s really not a free choice of any kind.
It’s also important to note that some of the harvestees were explicitly unwilling, and all of the cases expressed signs of economic disadvantage. Dr. Kumar would have known of the obvious inequality of bargaining power between himself and the impoverished persons of
Although libertarian ideology seeks to maximize the rights of the individual, in many instances – including this one – it surpasses legal constraints. The criteria in this case and the standards of the international community at play all make this type of exploitation unconscionabile.
In Canada, We Get to See them All…
Some good old Canadian national pride, to the beat of none other than Stomping Tom Connors‘ Cross Canada.
This was a submission to the My Canada Video Contest, which closed at the end of last year.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCypAqZI9Yc[/youtube]
When the System Fails, Can Justice Prevail?
Four RCMP officers died in the tragic shootout in the Town of Mayerthorpe, Alberta, the greatest one-day loss in over 100 years.
On March 3, 2005, James Roszko retaliated to a property seizure for growing marijuana by firing on officers, killing Peter Schiemann, Anthony Gordon, Lionide Johnston, and Brock Myrol.
Tonight (Feb. 10, 2008), the CTV will air a full-length television movie on the incident.
The Toronto Star reports,
As the movie progresses, it becomes quite clear that it’s an indictment of the justice system and how it treats dangerous, repeat criminals. It makes the Crown prosecutors and judges look helpless, even incompetent. But the film, a docu-drama (airing tonight at 9) about what many have called the “darkest day” in RCMP history – when four of its young officers were murdered in a tiny Alberta town after which the film is named – says virtually nothing about the failings of the RCMP itself.
Some of the critiques issued include why Roszko, a known pedophile, remained free at the time, despite 40 charges existing against him. But others have also asked why young and inexperienced officers were sent to discharge the task.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GuvdgVMTJ0[/youtube]
Resources
The Fifth Estate also has a documentary that can be viewed here.
Accessibility Issues at Queen’s Park
Corey Davidson, a Public Administration and Governance student at Ryerson University, shared with us some concerns about accessibility at Queen’s Park:
A Clear Message
While on a tour of Queen’s Park today, I noticed that the legislative chamber did not appear to be wheelchair friendly.When I asked the tour guide about how a wheelchair-bound MPP could take their seat, I was shown that there was a ramp that led to a small area at the back of the opposition benches that could accommodate wheelchairs.
While this is certainly a step in the right direction, this situation is a microcosm of the societal segregation faced by disabled persons.
We have recognized that sending blacks to the back of the bus was reprehensible, so how can grouping all MPP’s who use wheelchairs into a small section in the backbenches be justified?
The message being sent here is clear:
If you use a wheelchair and are elected as an MPP, we have a place for you in the backbenches. However, if you aspire to be Premier or a member of the cabinet or shadow cabinet and sit in the front benches, you are out of luck.
[There is also no outdoor public entrace with a ramp].
Disabilities and Politics
Nearly 90 years ago, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was stricken with lower motor paralysis [due to polio at the age of 39].
In order to continue his political career, he went to great lengths to conceal his disability from the general public – using painful steel leg braces, a cane and the strong arm of one of his sons – to make it appear that he was still able to walk.
It is sad to me to think that if Roosevelt were running for political office today, he would probably go to similar lengths to mask his disability, even though he would not be able to pull it off.
Unfortunately, attitudes on disability and the abilities of those who have them have not changed much since the days of FDR.
Reproduced here with the author’s permission.
