Month: September 2015

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Free Access to Law Movement

Students and Faculty will be interested to learn about the Free Access to Law Movement.

The movement was initiated in 1992 with the establishment of the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University, which aimed to act on the belief that “everyone should be able to read and understand the laws that govern them, without cost.”

The movement has expanded since, and now there are 54 members and multiple national and regional “LIIs” around the world, including CanLII (Canada) BaiLII (Britain and Ireland), AustLII (Australia) and many others.

In 2002 in Montreal the Declaration on Free Access to Law was formulated.

CanLII offers perhaps the best user interface of all the LIIs. It provides very current and deep historical content, including all the decisions of the SCC; intuitive search features; citation- and printer-friendly formats; and a “compare” feature that allows the user to see older and newer legislation side by side, with differences highlighted. Because Canadian law depends on English historical law, it is also helpful to know that the full text of the English Reports (1220-1886) is available at BaiLII.

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Work-study positions at the Law Library

Work-study positions are available at the Law Library!

Three work-study opportunities for law students at the Law Library are now posted on the UVic Student Awards and Financial Aid site. Although three positions are posted, hours may be shared among multiple successful applicants—so we can hire more than three students! Hours can also be flexibly scheduled.

See the SAFA site for the three postings.

Some guidelines:

1. Applicants must be eligible for the Work Study Program. See here for details: https://www.uvic.ca/registrar/safa/work-study/index.php

2. We’d love to have successful applicants join us in the first week of October. We’ll interview on a rolling basis, so please submit your application per the instructions on the posting as soon as you can.

3. If you apply to one particular posting, please indicate whether you would also or alternatively be interested in either of the other two. There is much overlap among the positions.

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Members of the UVic Law community respond to TRC recommendations

This past June, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) released its executive summary and recommendations. Since the release of the recommendations, members of the UVic Law community have embraced the recommendations. In a recent post on Slaw, Dean Jeremy Webber, writing on behalf of the Council of Canadian Law Deans, outlines what the recommendations mean for Canadian law schools and outlines some of the promising initiatives at UVic Law that can be built upon to meet the goals of the recommendations. Professors Gillian Calder and Rebecca Johnson also recently reflected on the TRC’s recommendations and what it means for legal education in Canada on the Canadian Lawyer blog.

You can read Dean Webber’s post here and Professors Calder and Johnson’s post here. UVic Law’s response to the TRC’s recommendations is also available online.

The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is available online.

To learn more about the TRC, check out these items at UVic Libraries:

  • They came for the children: Canada, Aboriginal peoples, and residential schools / Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Online.
  • Truth and indignation: Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Indian Residential Schools / Ronald Niezen. Call Number: E96.5 N53 2013.
  • Unsettling the settler within: Indian residential schools, truth telling, and reconciliation in Canada / Paulette Regan. Call Number: E96.5 R44 2010.
  • Response, responsibility and renewal: Canada’s truth and reconciliation journey / edited for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation by Gregory Younging, Jonathan Dewar, Mike DeGagné. Online.
  • The Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission / Julian Walker. Online.
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Welcome 2015-16 students

To new UVic Law students, welcome, and to returning students, welcome back!

We’re excited to work with you to support your learning and research in 2015-2016.

Her are the law library’s fall term regular hours:

  • Mon-Thu: 08:00 AM – 10:00 PM
  • Friday: 08:00 AM – 06:00 PM
  • Sat-Sun: 10:00 AM – 05:30 PM

Our hours change at exams and between terms. Full details are available here.

For information on Law’s orientations for new students, visit this page (netlinkID required).