Alisa Lazear – Hearsay: UVic Law Library

March 6, 2018

New Law Library Display – Indigenous Law: A Focus on Faculty Publications

Once you enter the law library, there is a space on your left dedicated to showcasing library resources. The current display is a small sample of the many resources available at the law library on Indigenous law. Highlighting scholarship from the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, you will see publications from Val Napoleon, John Borrows, Rebecca Johnson, Jeremy Webber, Pooja Parmar and the Indigenous Law Research Unit. Want to check one out? The library has additional copies available through the law library catalogue. Links are provided below.

To discover more resources, visit the library’s Indigenous Law Research Guide at http://libguides.uvic.ca/iluvic.

Material on Display:

Faculty Publications

Asch, J., Broadhead, K., Lloyd-Smith, G., Owen, S., & Ignace, M. (2016). Secwépemc lands and resources Law Research Project. Victoria: University of Victoria, Indigenous Law Research Unit.
Borrows, J. (2016). Freedom and Indigenous constitutionalism. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Borrows, J. (2010). Canada’s Indigenous constitution. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Coyle, M., & Borrows, J. (Eds.). (2017). The right relationship: Reimagining the implementation of historical treaties. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Foster, H., Raven, H., Webber, J., & Borrows, J. (2007). Let right be done: Aboriginal title, the Calder case, and the future of Indigenous rights. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Friedland, H. L., Napoleon, V., Henshaw, J., Steacy, K., Johnston, J., & Roy, S. (2013). Mikomosis and the Wetiko. Victoria: University of Victoria, Indigenous Law Research Unit.
Parmar, P., 1972. (2015). Indigeneity and legal pluralism in India: Claims, histories, meanings. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Webber, J., Johnson, R., & Lessard, H. (2011). Storied communities: Narratives of contact and arrival in constituting political community. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Other Publications:

Dussault, R., Erasmus, G., & Canada. (1993). Partners in confederation: Aboriginal peoples, self-government, and the constitution. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Erasmus, G., & Dussault, R. (1996). Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (Vols. 1-5). Ottawa: The Commission.
JD/JID joint degree program: In Canada common law and Indigenous legal orders [brochure]. Victoria: University of Victoria.
The Origins of the Logo [bookmark]. Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. (2015). Final report of the truth and reconciliation commission of Canada (Vols. 1-6 & summary). Toronto: TRC.

February 23, 2018

Meeting the growing need for legal professionals with Indigenous legal knowledge: The new JD/JID program

In the TRC Calls to Action, Canadian law schools are called upon to require law students to learn the history and legacy of residential schools, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal-Crown relations, and Indigenous law. The University of Victoria has taken this call to action to heart through its new JD/ JID program that will begin this fall. The new program will be the world’s first law degree that combines the study of both Canadian common law and Indigenous law, ensuring future legal professionals have the required skills to succeed in both realms.

UVic president Jamie Cassels commenting on the news stated:

“This program builds on UVic’s longstanding commitment to, and unique relationship with, the First Peoples of Canada. The foundational work for this program has been underway for several years, building on Indigenous scholarship for which UVic is known internationally”

Below is a round up of recent press coverage of the new program:

Cover artwork on the JID brochure by Professor Val Napoleon

UVic News Release (2018, Feb 21). World’s first Indigenous law degree to be offered at UVic.
Watts, R. (2018, Feb 22). New program a ‘new beginning’ at UVic for Indigenous law studies. Times Colonist.
Britton, L. (2018, Feb 22). UVic law students to study Canadian and Indigenous legal systems in new program. CBC News.
Depner, W. (2018, Feb 22). New Uvic Program combines Indigenous and non-Indigenous law. Victoria News.
Val Napoleon on the CBC radio show All Points West with host Jason D’Souza (posted soon)

For more information and links to publications by UVic’s two leading Indigenous law experts, check out our previous blog posts linked below.

John Borrows (Professor, Canada Research Chair Indigenous Law):

Val Napoleon (Associate Professor, Law Foundation Professor of Aboriginal Justice and Governance):

Related Library Resources:

Stay tuned for further updates from the library!

February 16, 2018

Environmental Law Club Research Event a Success!

Earlier this month, the UVic Environmental Law Club conducted a successful all-day research event at the UVic Law Library. Using their knowledge of legislative research, over 50 law students created a timeline of environmentally important legislative and policy changes to BC mining law in support of the Environmental Law Center’s Major Mining Law Reform Project.

For more information on this event, check out this post published yesterday on Slaw and written by the Environmental Law Club: http://www.slaw.ca/2018/02/15/law-student-led-legal-research-day-supports-environmental-law-reform/

February 9, 2018

UVic Law Professors in the Annual Author Celebration Event – March 8th

Mark your calendars for the annual UVic Author Celebration Event happening on March 8th at 3pm!

This event recognizes the incredible amount of intellectual content produced by members of the UVic community.

This year’s event features two faculty from UVic law. Professor John Borrows is among the incredible panel of authors and Professor Rebecca Johnson will be moderating the event.

Join the event on Facebook or find more details below:

When: March 8, 2018

Where: University Bookstore

Time: 3:00-4:30pm

THEME: Join us as we celebrate books written by UVic authors, including an engaging panel discussion with authors from the UVic community on issues facing First Nations communities.

Moderator: Rebecca Johnson (Professor & Associate Director, Indigenous Law Research Unit)

Author Panel:

John Borrows (Law) – The Right Relationship: Reimagining the Implementation of Historical Treaties & Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism
Lorna Williams (Education) – Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science, Book 1
Michele Tanaka (Education) – Learning and Teaching Together: Weaving Indigenous Ways of Knowing into Education
Paul Whitinui (Education) – Promising Practices in Indigenous Teacher Education

January 25, 2018February 2, 2018

Research from Professor Kathryn Chan Mentioned in SCC Hearing

UVic Law Professor Kathryn Chan‘s work was mentioned several times during the oral argument on the Law Society of British Columbia v. Trinity Western University, et al. delivered at the Supreme Court of Canada last month. Listen to the webcast of the hearing at the 2 hour and 2 minutes mark where her article “Identifying the Institutional Religious Freedom Claimant” was mentioned.

Her article is openly available on UVicSpace and can be accessed here: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/8841.

See our previous post for links to the SCC case summary, factums, and archived webcast: https://onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca/hearsay/2017/11/30/trinity-western-university-et-al-v-law-society-of-upper-canada-webcast/

Check out some of Kathryn Chan’s other publications available through the UVic Libraries Collection:

Books, Chapters, Monographs

Kathryn Chan, The Public-Private Nature of Charity Law. (2016) Portland, Oregon; Oxford: Hart Publishing.
Kathryn Chan, “The Advancement of Religion as a Charitable Purpose in an Age of Religious Neutrality” (2017) 6:1 Oxford J of Law and Religion 112.

Journal Articles

Kathryn Chan, “Identifying the Institutional Religious Freedom Claimant” (2017) 95 Canadian Bar Review (forthcoming)
Kathryn Chan, “The Perils of Federalizing the Private Law: a Case Study of the Income Tax Act Gift Concept” (2017) UBC Law Review
Kathryn Chan, “The Advancement of Religion as a Charitable Purpose in an Age of Religious Neutrality” (2017) 6:1 Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 112.
Kathryn Chan, “The Function (or Malfunction) of Equity in the Charity Law of Canada’s Federal Courts” (2016) 2 Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law 33
Kathryn Chan, “The Co-optation of Charitable Resources by Threatened Welfare States” (2015) 40:2 Queen’s Law Journal 561
***awarded the 2015 Scholarly Paper Award of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers
Kathryn Chan, “The Role of the Attorney General in charity proceedings in Canada and in England and Wales” (2011) 89:2 Canadian Bar Review 373
Kathryn Chan, “Charitable according to whom?: The clash between Quebec’s societal values and the law governing the registration of charities” (2008) 49 Les Cahiers de Droit 277
Kathryn Chan, “Taxing Charities/Imposer les Organismes de Bienfaisance: Harmonization and Dissonance in Canadian Charity Law” (2007) 55:3 Canadian Tax Journal 481
Kathryn Bromley Chan, “The Dueling Narratives of Religious Freedom: a comment on Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem” (2005) 43:2 Alberta Law Review 451
Kathryn Bromley Chan, “From Legal Universalism to Legal Pluralism: expanding and enhancing the human rights approach to HIV/AIDS” (2005) 21: 2 South African Journal of Human Rights 191

January 16, 2018

Carswell Looseleafs now Available Online

Over 75 of the Carswell looseleaf titles available in print at the UVic Law Library are now available online through Carswell’s eBook platform ProView. Below are just a few of the titles that UVic Faculty and Students can now access online:

Peter Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada, 5th ed
Robert G Owen, British Columbia Corporation Manual, 2nd ed
Kent W. Roach, Constitutional Remedies in Canada, 2nd ed
Roger E. Salhany, Canadian Criminal Procedure, 6th ed
Jack Woodward, Native Law

You can access this fully searchable database through the Library Refined Databases list under Books and Articles > eReference on Proview or directly here: eReference on ProView.

With ProView you can:

Link to full-text cases in WestlawNext Canada
Create a PDF that you can save, print, and share
Search by more that one term, within the Table of Contents, or jump to specific sections of the title directly from the Table of Contents
Customize your display with choice of fonts, text sizes, colour scheme, and line spacing

More loose-leaf titles will be added to this database over time, so make sure to check back again!

For questions on how to use this resource please contact us at lawref@uvic.ca or visit us at the Research Help Desk.

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018

Legal Research and Citation Refreshers – Jan 15th and 22nd

Welcome back everyone!

Voyager, CED, Abridgment, Halsbury’s—sound vaguely familiar but could be Dr. Who characters as easily as Canadian legal research tools?

Then try to make it to one of our noon hour legal research refreshers, presented by the law librarians in the Law Library computer lab. During the second session we will covering legal citation. No preregistration required.

Monday, January 15, 12:00 – 1:00 (emphasis research strategies and materials with Kim Nayyer and Alisa Lazear)
Monday, January 22, 12:00 – 1:00 (emphasis on legal citation with Caron Rollins)

The law library also has legal research and writing guide: https://libguides.uvic.ca/lrw that you may find helpful as you are working on your open memo assignment. There you can find a research strategy overview, links to sample research plans and journals, and primary and secondary legal research starting points.

If you have any questions … remember, we’re here to help you. Ask us!

Regards,

Kim Nayyer, Caron Rollins , Alex Burdett & Alisa Lazear

January 3, 2018January 3, 2018

Professor Val Napoleon on Activism, Indigenous Law & Disrupting Things

UVic Law professor, grandmother, painter, and activist, Val Napoleon was featured in the Globe and Mail earlier this week. The article, “Indigenous scholar Val Napoleon embraces disruption” goes into her life experience and involvement in Indigenous legal issues.

Napoleon has made numerous contributions to the development of Indigenous law in Canada such as establishing the Indigenous Law Research Unit and supporting Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en in their indigenous land claim that resulted in the landmark Supreme Court of Canada case Delgamuukw v British Columbia, [1997] 3 SCR 1010. Just last September, she was named to the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.

Check out the full Globe and Mail article here for more!

November 30, 2017

New Book by Professor Patricia Cochran

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Patricia Cochran, on her recent publication, Common Sense & Legal Judgment: Community Knowledge, Political Power, and Rhetorical Practice.

Find her book in print through the Law Library! – http://voyager.library.uvic.ca/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=3992202

Summary of her new book from McGill-Queen’s University Press:

What does it mean when a judge in a court of law uses the phrase “common sense”? Is it a type of evidence or a mode of reasoning? In a world characterized by material and political inequalities, whose common sense should inform the law?

Common Sense and Legal Judgment explores this rhetorically powerful phrase, arguing that common sense, when invoked in political and legal discourses without adequate reflection, poses a threat to the quality and legitimacy of legal judgment. Often operating in the service of conservatism, populism, or majoritarianism, common sense can harbour stereotypes, reproduce unjust power relations, and silence marginalized people. Nevertheless, drawing the works of theorists such as Thomas Reid, Antonio Gramsci, and Hannah Arendt into conversation with rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada, Patricia Cochran demonstrates that with careful attention, the democratic, egalitarian, and community-sustaining aspects of common sense can be brought to light. A call for critical self-reflection and the close scrutiny of power relationships and social contexts, this book is a direct response to social justice predicaments and their confounding relationships to law.

Check out some of her other publications available through the Uvic Libraries collection:

- “Applying the Burden of Proof and Creating Connections to Communities” (2011) 19.3 Constitutional Forum 119-124.
- “Taking Notice: Judicial Notice and the ‘Community Sense’ in Anti-Poverty Litigation” (2007) 40:2 U.B.C. Law Review 559-589.
- “Review of On Political Equality by Robert A. Dahl” (2006) 12:1 Review of Constitutional Studies 203-210.

November 29, 2017November 5, 2018

Exam Period at the Law Library: Extended Hours and Room Bookings

As we enter the last week of term, we wish all students the best for exams, papers, and assignments. We wish to ensure we offer all law students the support and study environment that is needed at this time. We alert all library users to the following updates and reminders:

Extended study period and exam hours began on Friday, November 24 and runs until Thursday, December 14, inclusive.
Extended weekend hours are now in place, with the law library open until 10 pm Saturdays and Sundays.
Fridays during this period we are open 2 additional hours, until 8pm. This is a pilot for this term.
During this period all group study rooms and individual study carrels will be reserved for law student use only. This will continue until law library staff see a significant decline in use by law students, or until December 14, whichever comes first. Group study rooms and study carrels may be booked at the loan desk.
Finally, we trust all law library users will respect the increased need for quiet study at this time.