bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economic Incarceration
Authors: McCormack Bridget
Published: April 2017

The adjudication of minor crimes has long proven onerous fordefendants. Recently, however, many American jurisdictions havesupplemented the “process” burdens associated with minor crimes.They have done so by requiring misdemeanor defendants to pay muchof the signifi cant economic costs associated with the adjudicationprocess, in addition to signifi cant fi nes. These include, for example, thecosts associated with electronic tethers, “reimbursement” fees to policeand prosecutors, and participation in court-ordered programs, amongothers. Assessed in so many different forms, such costs are not fullyappreciated by misdemeanor defendants until they face the burden oftrying to pay them. Unfortunately, courts have not made any attemptto accommodate defendants’ ability to pay, instead often requiring adefendant immediately to pay a sum that is simply impossible giventhe defendant’s income. These burdens are being borne by a segmentof the population least likely to be able to bear them, as a majority ofthe misdemeanants are indigent.

There are signifi cant social costs associated with this new trendin minor crime adjudication. First, there are social-welfare lossesresulting from lost wages and income tax revenues, the increased costsof new prosecutions and jail sentences imposed when costs, fees, andother economic sanctions are not paid, and indirectly the increasedcosts of public assistance for low-income defendants who lose their jobsas a result of contempt orders for their failure to pay on time. Thesecosts have to be measured against any increase in county revenuesfrom economic sanctions. But there is a larger problem as well:Courts’ recent willingness to impose greater process-oriented economicsanctions for minor crimes cannot be easily justifi ed by any of thetraditional theories of criminal punishment. That diffi culty, coupledwith the questionable social balance sheet resulting from the increasedsanctions, casts serious doubt on this emergent trend.
Rachel Murray, The Role of National Human Rights Institutions at the International and Regional Levels: The Experience of Africa; Brian Burdekin, assisted by Jason Naum, National Human Rights Institutions in the Asia-Pacific Region, The Raoul Wallenberg Institute Human Rights Library
Authors: Reif Linda C.
Published: April 2017

National Human Rights i nstitutions [NHRIs] are created by “a Government under the constitution, or by law or decree, the functions of which are specifically designed in terms of the promotion and protection of human rights.” Human rights commissions, ombudsman i nstitutions, hybrid single-office holder human rights ombudsman/commissioners, and specialized i nstitutions such as the children’s ombudsman are types of NHRIs.
Levinasian Ethics and Animal Rights
Authors: Crowe Jonathan
Published: April 2017

What can we say, in good faith, about the moral status of animals? This article explores the above question through the prism of Emmanuel Levinas’ theory of ethics. I begin by examining the ambiguous position of non-human animals in Levinas’ writings. I argue that Levinas’ theory is best read as suggesting that nonhumans present claims for recognition as ethical beings, but that these demands have a different character to those presented by humans. I then explore the implications of Levinas’ view of ethics for the structure of moral reasoning. I contend that Levinas’ theory yields a conception of moral reasoning as reflective, good faith engagement with primordial social judgements of ethical significance. In the final part of the article, I suggest that it is both possible and constructive to thematise the ethical claims of non-human animals in the language of rights. Indeed, from a Levinasian perspective, animal rights might properly be viewed as a model for the notion of human rights, since they capture the essential asymmetry of the ethical encounter.
Taking Workers’ Rights Seriously: Private Prosecutions of Employment Standards Violations
Authors: Elson Kent
Published: April 2017

This paper examines private prosecutions as a tool to challenge the state’s inadequate enforcement of employment standards. In Ontario, poor enforcement of employment standards means that there are no costs for non-compliance, that orders to pay wages are typically not fully paid and that vulnerable workers are left unprotected. Private prosecutions are one tool that could be used by private actors to fight these problems. Historically, private prosecutions have been used where there is a gap in government enforcement, most recently to bring environmental offenders to justice. Privately prosecuting employment standards violations would continue that tradition and would promote compliance through the stigma of criminal proceedings, and by conveying the message that employment standards violations are crimes. This paper discusses the gaps in the enforcement of employment standards in Ontario (section II), explains how private prosecutions can help and how this fits with the historic use of private prosecutions (section III), and describes how private prosecutions of employment standards could be easily implemented (section IV).
Janet E. Halley, Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism
Authors: Bartow Ann M.
Published: April 2017

My overarching reaction to Janet Halley’s recent book, Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism, can be summarized with a one sentence cliché: The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Access to Justice for the Wrongfully Accused in National Security Investigations
Authors: Kalajdzic Jasminka
Published: April 2017

Among the casualties in the ‘war on terror’ is the presumption of innocence. It is now known that four Canadians who were the subject of investigation by the RCMP and CSIS were detained and tortured in Syria on the basis of information that originated in and was shared by Canada. None has ever been charged with a crime. On their return home, all four men called for a process that would expose the truth about the role of Canadian agencies in what happened to them, and ultimately help them clear their names and rebuild their lives. To date, in varying degrees, all four men continue to wait for that “process.” In this paper, I examine the access to justice mechanisms available to persons who are wrongfully accused of being involved in terrorist activities. Utilizing the case study of one of the four men, Abdullah Almalki, I explore the various processes available to him: (i) a complaint to the relevant domestic complaints bodies, the Security Intelligence Review Committee and the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP; (ii) a commission of inquiry; and (iii) a civil tort claim. Due in large part to the role national security confidentiality plays in these mechanisms, all three models are found to be ineffective for those seeking accountability in the national security context.
Cardboard Boxes and Invisible Fences: Homelessness and Public Space in City of Victoria v. Adams
Authors: Buhler Sarah
Published: April 2017

This paper analyzes the recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in City of Victoria v. Adams. Specifically, the paper considers three interlocking themes that emerge from the decision: (1) the nature of “public space” in the context of homelessness; (2) the autonomy of homeless individuals; and (3) the meaning and value of the “homeless body.” With reference to each theme, the paper explores how the judgment in Adams grapples with the purportedly normative “Law and Economics”- type arguments put forth by the City of Victoria. By drawing on insights from Critical Legal Studies theory and feminist jurisprudence, the paper shows that Adams subverts and destabilizes certain “normative” perspectives about public space and homelessness. However, the paper goes on to argue that in its conflation of “cardboard box” shelters with the “invisible fences” envisioned by Justice Wilson in Morgentaler, Adams presents an ambiguous victory for anti-poverty advocates. The paper argues that the decision may serve to increase barriers for a broader and more progressive understanding of section 7 in the future.
Richard A. Falk, The Costs of War: International Law, The UN and World Order
Authors: Green James A.
Published: April 2017

The Costs of War ultimately represents an impassioned plea for an ideological shift in international affairs on the part of both governments and individuals, particularly in the context of the use of military force. In it, Professor Falk highlights the damage caused to world order by what he views as the progressive slide towards a geopolitical realist approach to international politics and away from Wilsonian international co-operation and normative restraint: a slide that culminated in the 2003 military intervention in Iraq. Importantly, he argues for the potential utility of international norms (most notably international law) as a means for better securing world order.
Antony Anghie, Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law
Authors: Cervini Edward
Published: April 2017

Antony Anghie’s book Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law ambitiously seeks to retell the history of international law from the standpoint of the developing world. This book covers five centuries of international law, through three different but related approaches: an historical approach which documents modern international law from colonial times to the present; a jurisprudential- philosophical approach which attempts to tease out the important concepts and theories behind international law; and a political approach which seeks to understand international law from the perspective of great-power politics, economic development, globalization and nation building.
NEITHER FISH NOR FOWL: ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGES IN THE MODERN ADMINISTRATIVE STATE
Authors: Weaver Russell L. , Jellum Linda D.
Published: April 2017

This article examines the role of administrative adjudication in the United States constitutional system. It begins by noting that such adjudication fits uncomfortably within a system of divided powers. Administrative judges, including administrative law judges [ALJs] (who have the highest level of protection and status), are considerably more circumscribed than ordinary Article III judges. Indeed, administrative judges are usually housed in the agencies for which they decide cases, rather than in independent adjudicative bodies, and they do not always have the final say regarding the cases they decide. In many instances, the agency can appeal an adverse administrative judge’s decision directly to the head of the agency, and the agency head retains broad power to overrule the administrative judge’s determinations. In other words, the agency can substitute its judgment for that of the administrative judge regarding factual determinations, legal determinations, and policy choices. As a result, many administrative adjudicative structures involve difficult tradeoffs between independence, political control, and accountability. This article examines issues related to the status and power of administrative judges, as well as the constraints that have been imposed on administrative adjudicative authority, and explores whether those constraints continue to serve the purposes for which they were originally imposed.
A Wavering Commitment? Administrative Independence and Collaborative Governance in Ontario’s Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability Legislation
Authors: Jacobs Laverne
Published: April 2017

In December 2009, the Ontario Legislative Assembly enacted the Adjudicative Tribunals Accountability, Governance and Appointments Act, 2009 [ATAGAA]. This new legislation offers a unique approach to ensuring that adjudicative tribunals in the province are transparent, accountable and efficient in their operations while preserving their decision-making independence. This approach aims to bring the executive branch of government and tribunals together in achieving effective and accountable internal tribunal governance. Through the use of illustrative cases, the author argues, however, that the statute does not address many of the contemporary concerns about administrative independence and accountability that tribunals experience on the ground. She argues further that the legislation is inconsistent in its underlying commitment to the concept of accountability itself as it fails to contemplate the importance of government accountability to tribunals and overlooks opportunities to foster sustained internal cultures of accountability. Finally, the approach taken by the legislation must be channeled properly to avoid disintegrating from one of collaborative governance to one of command and control.
Reinventing Regulation/Reinventing Accountability: Judicial Review in New Governance Regimes
Authors: Araiza William D.
Published: April 2017

This Essay considers the doctrinal and institutional challenges courts and designers of New Governance systems face when considering the availability and scope of judicial review. Part II briefly summarizes New Governance principles, while Part III explains the challenges they pose for American standing law. The Essay then considers solutions. Part IV considers aspects of other nations’ administrative standing law, considering whether those nations’ legal innovations overcome these hurdles while remaining true to courts’ proper role in reviewing agency action. Other nations have taken significant steps to resolve these issues; however, it remains unclear whether those resolutions transfer to the different institutional and legal structure in the United States. Part V considers whether the problem of standing can be resolved in a principled way by reconceptualizing the injury plaintiffs allege when they challenge New Governance regulation. Finally, Part VI considers the proper scope of judicial review of New Governance regulation.
Comparative Administrative Law: Outlining a Field of Study
Authors: Rose-Ackerman Susan , Lindseth Peter L.
Published: April 2017

Comparative administrative law is emerging as a distinct field of inquiry after a period of neglect. To demonstrate this claim, the authors summarize their edited volume on the topic – a collection that aims to stimulate research across legal systems and scholarly disciplines. After a set of historical reflections, the authors consider key topics at the intersection of administrative and constitutional law, including the contested issue of administrative independence. Two further sections highlight tensions between expertise and accountability, drawing insights from economics and political science. The essay then considers the changing boundaries of the administrative state – both the public–private distinction and the links between domestic and transnational regulatory bodies, such as the European Union. The essay concludes with reflections on a core concern of administrative law: the way individuals and organizations across different systems test and challenge the legitimacy of public authority.
Unity in Diversity: European Citizenship through the Lens of Popular Culture
Authors: Stychin Carl F.
Published: April 2017

Citizenship plays a central role within the political, legal and academic discourse of the European Union. It has been instrumental in attempting to foster a European identity across national boundaries, and it is a useful heuristic device for analyzing wider issues of membership and belonging. Citizenship theory also has been developed using examples drawn from popular culture. This article seeks to build upon this approach and enrich our understanding of European citizenship by interrogating one important annual European cultural event: the Eurovision Song Contest. The Contest, like Europe itself, illuminates a central tension between identity and difference, which demands scepticism towards grand narratives of an inevitably exclusionary European identity and destiny.
Sweating it Out: Facilitating Corrections and Parole in Canada Through Aboriginal Spiritual Healing
Authors: Milward David
Published: April 2017

Aboriginal peoples continue to be subjected to drastic over-incarceration. Much of the existing literature explores contemporary adaptations of Aboriginal justice traditions that resemble restorative justice as a solution. There is by comparison a lack of literature that considers searching for solutions during the correctional phase of the justice system, after Aboriginal persons have already been convicted and imprisoned. The objective of this paper is to explore a number of reforms in order to better facilitate rehabilitation, reintegration, and parole for Aboriginal inmates. One is to invest greater resources into culturally sensitive programming that emphasizes spiritual healing for Aboriginal inmates. This is premised on the theme of “spend now, save later” with the idea that increasing the chances for Aboriginal re-integration may represent the better long term investment than simply warehousing large numbers of Aboriginal inmates year after year. Another problem is that many Aboriginal inmates are classified as higher security risks, which results in them being cut off from needed programming. The suggestion here is that criminal history as a static factor for determining security classifications may have little predictive value for the actual security risk posed by Aboriginal inmates, and therefore should be de-emphasized. Correctional Services of Canada should seriously consider developing an Aboriginal-specific classification scale that de-emphasizes criminal history, and emphasizes instead offender participation in culturally appropriate programs and spiritual healing, and behavioural progress while in prison. Risk assessment to re-offend for purposes of granting parole may also represent a form of systemic discrimination since criminal history represents a static factor that encumbers parole for many Aboriginal inmates. Risk assessment should instead emphasize dynamic risk factors by assessing Aboriginal participation in culturally appropriate programming, and attendant behaviourial progress while in prison. The difficult issue of Aboriginal gang activity can perhaps be dealt with through a more flexible system of risk assessment that gauges a willingness to reform and dissociate from the gang lifestyle rather than require Aboriginal inmates to endure nearly permanent penalties for past involvement. Finally, the paper will suggest that it is possible to overcome the political obstacles to implementing these reforms and obtain a political mandate to pursue them after the public is made aware of the benefits they offer.
Access to Justice for Ethno-Racial Psychiatric Consumer/Survivors in Ontario
Authors: Dhand Ruby
Published: April 2017

Ethno-racial psychiatric consumer/survivors face complex forms of discrimination as a result of the culture specific stigmatization of mental health disabilities, institutional racism and culturally inappropriate care. In an effort to achieve better access to justice for ethno-racial communities, we must strive to understand their complex needs, perspectives and conceptions of mental health. Thus, I identify and critique the legal barriers, which are perceived to differentially affect ethno-racial psychiatric consumer/survivors in Ontario, through an analysis of the Consent and Capacity Board [CCB]. I propose the hypothesis that factors such as race, ethnicity, culture, poverty and social exclusion are not fully addressed by the CCB. I use data collected from interviews with stakeholders to reveal the procedural, structural/systemic and discretionary barriers faced by ethno-racial psychiatric consumer/survivors within the CCB’s pre-hearing, hearing and post-hearing processes, along with recommendations to address these barriers.
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’Im, Islam and Secular State: Negotiating the Future of Shari’a
Authors: Sidahmed Abdel Salam
Published: April 2017

The relationship between Islam, state, and politics has been the subject of decades-long and extensive debates in the fields of politics (and policy), academia and media. One perception brought about mostly by orientalist studies purports that Islam – unlike Christianity does not “render what is to Caesar unto Caesar”; rather Islam does not recognize a separation between church and state or a distinction between religion and politics. Though such a view is fairly outdated, it is by no means abandoned, and it appears to hold some influence among many of those concerned with the affairs of Muslim-majority societies. There is a perception among some observers of these societies that a uniform “Muslim culture” tends to inform the political behaviour of Muslims, and that the religious foundation of this culture was grounded on unity between religion and the state given the historical fact that Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam was both a Prophet and a statesman.
STATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR PROTECTION AGAINST DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS DECISION IN LENAHAN (GONZALES) AND ITS APPLICATION IN CANADA
Authors: Koshan Jennifer
Published: April 2017

In August, 2011, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released its decision in Jessica Lenahan (Gonzales) v United States, a case concerning states’ obligations to use due diligence in responding to domestic violence. The IACHR found that the United States had breached several articles of the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man for failing to protect Lenahan and her children from domestic violence, and made wide-reaching recommendations at both the individual and systemic level. This comment will discuss the IACHR decision in Lenahan and analyze its implications for Canada’s compliance with its international obligations towards domestic violence in the judicial, legislative and policy spheres. Focusing on the concept of access to justice as articulated by the IACHR, the analysis will show that Canada may be in violation of its obligations for failing to provide access to justice in the context of domestic violence, and otherwise in violation of its due diligence obligations under international law.
LAWYERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FAIRNESS OF JUDICIAL ASSISTANCE TO SELF-REPRESENTED LITIGANTS
Authors: Goldschmidt Jona , Stalans Loretta
Published: April 2017

How much assistance should a trial judge provide a self-represented litigant [SRL] before the judge’s impartiality will be reasonably questioned? This question has been of continuing concern to both the bench and bar ever since the rise of the pro se litigation movement in the late 1990s, particularly in the context of “mixed” cases involving an SRL and a represented party. Case law and ethics codes provide inconsistent decisions and vague guidelines for judges, who must balance their duty to provide reasonable assistance with their duty to ensure a fair trial for all parties. This paper reports the results of a survey administered to 210 Canadian family law practitioners who were presented with 16 hypothetical scenarios involving an SRL and a represented party. Respondents indicated their views regarding the impartiality and helpfulness of the trial judge in each scenario, involving various procedural defaults by the SRL and different forms of judicial assistance or lack thereof. The results indicate that lawyers' perceptions of a judge's impartiality are affected, inter alia, by the favourability of the outcome for the SRL, and whether the assistance provided dealt with procedural or substantive matters. Future research is needed to determine whether a consensus can be established regarding perceptions of lawyers, lay persons, and judges regarding which forms of assistance are reasonable and required, permissible, or impermissible.
TURNING THE SPOTLIGHT ON CLASS REPRESENTATIVES -EMPIRICAL INSIGHTS FROM DOWN UNDER
Authors: Caruana Jane , Morabito Vince
Published: April 2017

Ten months before Ontario became the first Canadian common law province to authorise American-style class actions, class actions became available in the Federal Court of Australia. In these two countries and in the United States, the named plaintiffs, commonly referred to as class representatives, are the only claimants formally in charge of the litigation, on the plaintiff side, whilst the outcome of class actions binds not only them and their opponents but also the claimants that they represent, the absent class members. And yet, to date, there have been no comprehensive studies of class representatives in these three countries. The aim of this article is to partly address this significant lacuna in the international legal literature by providing the findings of an empirical study, that the authors have undertaken, of the persons that acted as class representatives in the class actions that were filed in the first 17 years of the operation of the class action procedure in the Federal Court of Australia. It is hoped that this article will prompt Canadian scholars to undertake similar studies with respect to Canadian class representatives.
OVERCOMING OBSTACLES TO IMPLEMENTING THE UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN CANADA
Authors: Gunn Brenda L
Published: April 2017

The majority vote by the General Assembly, which brought the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into existence as an international instrument, was just the first step.  Now the long and difficult road of implementation begins.  Implementation requires the application of international law in a specific national context.  This article explores the potential obstacles to implement the UN Declaration in Canada and suggest avenues to overcome these obstacles.  This article concludes that the main obstacle is not a legal one, but rather a lack of political will.  Given the limited understandings of the UN Declaration as an international instrument and how international law applies in Canada, this article provides an overview of the significance of a Declaration in international law and also explains how international law applies in Canada.  The main recommendation to promote implementation is greater education on the UN Declaration.  However, there are also many actions that Indigenous peoples, lawyers and advocates can take to promote implementation in legal and political domains that are discussed at the end of the article.
TRANSNATIONAL JUDICIAL AND NON-JUDICIAL REMEDIES FOR CORPORATE HUMAN RIGHTS HARMS: CHALLENGES OF AND FOR LAW
Authors: Seck Sara L
Published: April 2017

This paper will consider whether the polycentric governance approach of the 2011 United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights has the potential to achieve the goal of transnational corporate compliance with human rights responsibilities including, importantly, the goal of access to remedy and justice for those who have been harmed. The paper was initially written as a contribution to a conference at the University of Windsor entitled Justice Beyond the State: Transnationalism and Law. First, the paper examines understandings of “citizenship” and “non-citizenship” in relation to transnational corporate [TNC] accountability in the human rights context. Two distinct perspectives are explored: first, TNC citizenship and non-citizenship and the rights and responsibilities that flow from these; and second, citizenship and non-citizenship of victims of human rights violations in relation to rights of access to remedy. Together, these insights inform an understanding of the role that transnational law and legal pluralism beyond the state could serve in facilitating remedy for human rights violations. Specifically, the paper will conclude with reflections on what might be required for implementation of the UN Guiding Principles to achieve the goal of transnational corporate compliance and access to remedy for victims of rights violations.
ASSUMING REGULATORY AUTHORITY FOR TRANSNATIONAL TORTS: AN INTERSTATE AFFAIR? A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE CANADIAN PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW TORT RULES
Authors: Banu Roxana
Published: April 2017

In Tolofson v. Jensen, the Supreme Court of Canada determined that in most cases the law of the place where the tort occurred has exclusive authority to regulate all legal aspects related to it. In developing this choice of law rule, the Supreme Court relied on an analogy between Private International Law and Public International law. This allows Private International Law to claim a structural, neutral function in the distribution of legislative authority in the international realm and to ignore both private law and public law considerations. To best reveal the way in which the Supreme Court injected these limitations into Private International Law by reference to Public International Law, I show the striking similarity between the Supreme Court’s reasoning and several Private International Law writings at the end of the 19th century in Continental Europe.

In the context of the extraterritorial tortious activity of multinational corporations, these limitations make Private International Law oblivious to arguments of Corporate Social Responsibility scholars showing that a multinational corporation may legitimately be regulated by the state of its headquarters, even for extraterritorial conduct. Overall, I argue that an overemphasis on legislative authority as a symbol of state sovereignty transforms Private International Law matters generally, and transnational torts in particular, in inter-state affairs, removed from the interests and pleas of the individuals and communities affected by them.
RACIALIZED IN JUSTICE: THE LEGAL AND EXTRA-LEGAL STRUGGLES OF MIGRANT AGRICULTURAL WORKERS IN CANADA
Authors: Smith Adrian A
Published: April 2017

Considerable attention has been directed at the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2011 Fraser decision regarding the constitutional right to freedom of association of agricultural workers in Ontario.  While these interventions rightly tend to chastise the Court’s ruling denying meaningful associational rights, a marked indifference exists toward the racialized dimensions of the ruling and of agricultural labour production in Canada more broadly.  But an application of the insights of critical race theory, while necessary to addressing the limits of contemporary jurisprudential and scholarly legal analysis, fails to sufficiently confront the particularities of labour exploitation embedded in Canada’s temporary labour migration regime.  Striving to deepen the study of racialization, labour and law in Canada, I situate the legal and extra-legal struggles of migrant agricultural workers within an anti-racist class analysis of law attentive to the ways racialization and racism infuse labour migration.  The racialized class construction of migrant labour -- a “structural necessity” within agricultural production -- occurs through the imposition of politico-legal impediments organized through global capitalism and the system of national states.  The analysis ends by advocating a turn away from prevailing approaches to the study and practice of labour law to a transgressive agenda concerned with openly contesting capitalist exploitation in all forms including racialized legal regulation of migrant agricultural labour.
MARGINALIZING TRANS MEDICAL EXPENSES: LINE-DRAWING EXERCISES IN TAX
Authors: Singer Samuel
Published: April 2017

This article explores the treatment of trans medical expenses under American and Canadian tax laws. In both tax systems, medical expenses are deemed worthy of tax relief, while many cosmetic procedures are excluded. This article argues that tax administrators and the judiciary are influenced by social stigma when they employ the distinction between cosmetic and medical expenses to exclude or allow trans medical expenses. In the American context, this article focuses on the Internal Revenue Service’s reasons for deeming a trans woman’s gender dysphoria-related medical expenses to be ineligible for the medical deduction. It then turns to the taxpayer’s subsequent appeal to the U.S. Tax Court in O’Donnabhain v. Commissioner, 134 TC no. 4, and the Court’s determination that, while the taxpayer’s sex reassignment surgery and hormone therapy were eligible expenses, her breast augmentation was not deductible. The article follows by outlining the Canadian medical expense tax credit to determine how similar trans medical expenses might be treated in light of a budget amendment in 2010 prohibiting claims for most cosmetic procedures. The article concludes that in both the American and Canadian context, trans people are held to a higher standard than required under each respective tax statute, with their gender dysphoria-related medical expenses needing to be documented as “medically necessary” to avoid categorization as ineligible cosmetic expenses.
LOOKING FOR QUALITY: THE EMPIRICAL DEBATE IN ACCESS TO JUSTICE RESEARCH
Authors: Leitch Jennifer A
Published: April 2017

Access to Justice remains one of the most contested issues on the law-and-society agenda.  There has been continuing conceptual debate over its meaning, its objectives, and its success.  Of late, attention has turned to efforts to measure the impact and efficacy of different initiatives aimed at improving individuals’ access to justice.  Along with a broader turn toward empirical studies in law, there have been renewed efforts within the access to justice field to develop a more compelling and convincing methodology by which to assess and evaluate these different initiatives.
FROM ENFORCEMENT TO INTEGRATION: INFUSING ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION-MAKING WITH HUMAN RIGHTS VALUES
Authors: Raso Jennifer
Published: April 2017

This article proposes an integration approach to realize human rights values within administrative agencies.  Using social assistance as a factual context, it examines how rights enforcement has become the dominant mechanism for reforming government benefits programs.  Rights enforcement is ineffective at achieving the values underlying human rights codes, however, even where enforcement occurs at administrative tribunals.  Attention must therefore be directed towards efforts to infuse individual and institutional discretion with human rights values.  Given their quasi-constitutional status, such values have a key role to play in shaping the design of administrative agencies and the everyday decisions of front-line workers.
SHIFTING GROUND, SOLID FOUNDATIONS: IMAGINING A NEW PARADIGM FOR CANADIAN CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT
Authors: Ramanujam Nandini , Gorvie Miatta
Published: April 2017

Members of civil society are increasingly decrying what they identify as an insidious trend whereby the government is targeting organizations whose mandates run contrary to the federal government’s political and economic agendas and creating a chill around public policy and advocacy work. The media as well as civil society organizations [CSOs] themselves have documented government attempts to undermine and stifle the voices of dissenting organizations, ranging from rhetorical attacks to the withdrawal of funding for ambiguous reasons. The climate of resentment and suspicion between civil society actors and the government is detrimental for safeguarding the tradition of accountability and transparency in Canada’s democratic institutions. Amidst this turbulent environment, this paper examines the often-made claim by CSO leaders in Canada that public funding is a necessary requirement for a strong civil society, with the aim of challenging and mobilizing the civil society community to not only survive but to reinvigorate its engagement to further social justice in this changing social and economic landscape. We argue that discussions of the state of civil society in Canada focus disproportionately on the question of funding and relationship-building with the government and expose the unforeseen consequences of this trade-off for CSOs, their members, and constituent communities.  We close by introducing the potential of a new paradigm of “principled engagement” that would allow Canadian CSOs to thrive as sustainable, adaptable social justice advocates in coming years.
THE POLICING OF MAJOR EVENTS IN CANADA: LESSONS FROM TORONTO’S G20 AND VANCOUVER’S OLYMPICS
Authors: Pue Wes , Diab Robert , Jackson Grace
Published: April 2017

Major events ranging from sporting events to major international conferences too often result in disorder, deployment of riot squads, and mass arrests. Events surrounding a meeting of the G20 in Toronto and those at Vancouver’s Winter Olympics provide insight into the ways in which things can go wrong and the ways in which they can go well at major events. This article employs a “thick history” of events in order to explore gaps in Canadian law, including gaps between “law in the books” and “law in action.”

     The legal frameworks governing large-scale events affect the likelihood of success measured in public safety, minimization of disorder, and protection of basic liberties. Surprisingly, large events often proceed without the benefit of a developed legal framework, leading to confusion among federal police, local police, and civil authority. We assess past reliance on the common law, a Vancouver City bylaw, Ontario’s Public Works Protection Act [PWPA], and the policing and security provisions of the federal Foreign Missions and International Organizations Act (Foreign Missions Act) in order to determine which sorts of legal arrangements are most conducive to successful event management. Since major events in Canada are most often developed in law’s penumbra, without the benefit of clear legal authority or statutory direction governing the measures that are required, both effective management and ordinary liberties are compromised. A “worst of both worlds” outcome destabilizes police–citizen relationships and leaves individuals uncertain as to the durability of their rights of property, speech, assembly, movement, and personal integrity. Equally, police forces are left insecure as to the lawful means by which they should perform their duties. A comparison of the two events provides the pathology and a prescription, illustrating the need for legislation to govern the management of major events.
ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND ABUSES OF CONTRACT
Authors: Radin Margaret Jane
Published: April 2017

Mass-market standardized fine print (boilerplate) altering the rights of consumers is greatly expanding in today’s digital environment  Mass-market boilerplate impacts access to justice when it deletes rights to redress of grievances. Such deletion of rights leads to normative degradation because it undermines agreement, which is the basis of justifiable contractual enforcement, and leads to democratic degradation because it undermines the basis of civil society and the rule of law. A brief comparison of US and Canadian common law suggests that Canada’s legal system is less willing to allow these inroads into access to justice.
Teichmüller space of a countable set of points on the Riemann sphere
Authors: Taniguchi Masahiko
Published: April 2017

We introduce the Teichm?ller space T(E) of an ordered countable set E of
infinite number of distinct points on the Riemann sphere. We discuss the
relation between the Teichm?ller distance on T(E) and a natural one on
the configuration space for E. Also we give a system of global holomorphic
coordinates for T(E) when E is determined from a finitely generated
semigroup consisting of M?bius transformations with the totally
disconnected forward limit set.
Rigid hypersurfaces and infinitesimal CR automorphisms
Authors: Hayashimoto Atsushi
Published: April 2017

We study a survey on the relations between rigid hypersurfaces and
infinitesimal CR automorphisms. After reviewing the case of hypersurfaces of
finite type, we study the case of hypersurfaces of infinite type. Some open
problems are posed in the last section.
An extension of the generalized Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta function of two variables
Authors: Choi Junesang , Parmar Rakesh
Published: April 2017

The main object of this paper is to introduce a new extension of the
generalized Hurwitz-Lerch Zeta functions of two variables. We then
systematically investigate such its several interesting properties and
related formulas as (for example) various integral representations, which
provide certain new and known extensions of earlier corresponding results, a
summation formula and Mellin-Barnes type contour integral representations. We
also consider some important special cases.
On arithmetic toroidal groups
Authors: Umeno Takashi
Published: April 2017

Andreotti, Gherardelli, and Abe constructed toroidal groups from algebraic
number fields. We call these toroidal groups arithmetic toroidal groups. We
study the algebraic structures of arithmetic toroidal groups and we show two
examples of arithmetic toroidal groups where one is a quasi-Abelian variety
and the other has no nonconstant meromorphic functions on it.
In Vivo Enrichment of Diabetogenic T Cells
Authors: Thelin Martin A. , Kissler Stephan , Vigneault Frederic , Watters Alexander L. , White Des , Koshy Sandeep T. , Vermillion Sarah A. , Mooney David J. , Serwold Thomas , Ali Omar A.
Published: April 2017

Dysfunctional T cells can mediate autoimmunity, but the inaccessibility of autoimmune tissues and the rarity of autoimmune T cells in the blood hinder their study. We describe a method to enrich and harvest autoimmune T cells in vivo by using a biomaterial scaffold loaded with protein antigens. In model antigen systems, we found that antigen-specific T cells become enriched within scaffolds containing their cognate antigens. When scaffolds containing lysates from an insulin-producing β-cell line were implanted subcutaneously in autoimmune diabetes–prone NOD mice, β-cell–reactive T cells homed to these scaffolds and became enriched. These T cells induced diabetes after adoptive transfer, indicating their pathogenicity. Furthermore, T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing identified many expanded TCRs within the β-cell scaffolds that were also expanded within the pancreata of NOD mice. These data demonstrate the utility of biomaterial scaffolds loaded with disease-specific antigens to identify and study rare, therapeutically important T cells.
Sulfonylureas and the Risks of Cardiovascular Events and Death: A Methodological Meta-Regression Analysis of the Observational Studies
Authors: Azoulay Laurent , Suissa Samy
Published: April 2017

Recent randomized trials have compared the newer antidiabetic agents to treatments involving sulfonylureas, drugs associated with increased cardiovascular risks and mortality in some observational studies with conflicting results. We reviewed the methodology of these observational studies by searching MEDLINE from inception to December 2015 for all studies of the association between sulfonylureas and cardiovascular events or mortality. Each study was appraised with respect to the comparator, the outcome, and study design–related sources of bias. A meta-regression analysis was used to evaluate heterogeneity. A total of 19 studies were identified, of which six had no major design-related biases. Sulfonylureas were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in five of these studies (relative risks 1.16–1.55). Overall, the 19 studies resulted in 36 relative risks as some studies assessed multiple outcomes or comparators. Of the 36 analyses, metformin was the comparator in 27 (75%) and death was the outcome in 24 (67%). The relative risk was higher by 13% when the comparator was metformin, by 20% when death was the outcome, and by 7% when the studies had design-related biases. The lowest predicted relative risk was for studies with no major bias, comparator other than metformin, and cardiovascular outcome (1.06 [95% CI 0.92–1.23]), whereas the highest was for studies with bias, metformin comparator, and mortality outcome (1.53 [95% CI 1.43–1.65]). In summary, sulfonylureas were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in the majority of studies with no major design-related biases. Among studies with important biases, the association varied significantly with respect to the comparator, the outcome, and the type of bias. With the introduction of new antidiabetic drugs, the use of appropriate design and analytical tools will provide their more accurate cardiovascular safety assessment in the real-world setting.
Privacy-Preserving Record Linkage: An international collaboration between Canada, Australia and Wales
Authors: Pow Conrad , Iron Karey , Boyd James , Brown Adrian , Thompson Simon , Chong Nelson , Ma Charlotte
Published: April 2017

ABSTRACT

ObjectivesLinkage of “big data” can provide the answers to a variety of health questions that benefit the delivery of patient care, impact of policies, system planning and evaluation. In some jurisdictions, legal and operational barriers may prevent data linkage for research and system evaluation. Collaboration between international research institutions in Canada, Australia and Wales was formed at the Farr Institute International Conference in 2015. This partnership will test privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) techniques for linkage accuracy on real datasets held in a Canadian data repository.

ApproachBloom filter PPRL techniques have been incorporated into a prototype linkage system. Evaluations on probabilistic linkage using Bloom filters method have shown potential for large-scale record linkage, performing both accurately and efficiently under experimental conditions. The prototype will be used to evaluate the Bloom filter PPRL techniques in 3 phases. Phase 1: 3 tests using simulated data relating to 20 million individuals will be matched to a sub-cohort of 1 million individuals. Phase 2: 100,000 people from hospital inpatient records will be matched to 18 million people in a health system registration file.

These tests will inform whether the method can achieve high levels of privacy protection without negatively impacting performance and linkage quality. Performance indicators include match rate and processing efficiency based on record volumes.

ResultsLinkage quality will be assessed by the number of true matches and non matches identified as links and non-links. This method will be evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets, where the true match status is known. Initial performance testing linked a file of 3,000 records to 30,000 with a 100% match result. Subsequent test phases as above will continue to be evaluated and these results will be presented.

ConclusionCompletion of the phased tests will confirm the ability to link datasets while preserving privacy. This international collaboration will expand the utility of this prototype linkage system and expand the global knowledge bank focusing on PPRL methods in general. It will also inform how to adapt to local requirements by providing a solution to many common legal and administrative challenges.