Journalists routinely live-tweet high-profile criminal trials, a practice that raises questions about access to justice and the principle of open court. Does social media open up the justice system? There is a normative debate in the literature about the use of Twitter and social media in the courtroom. This paper takes on this debate by exploring the relationship between digital technologies and criminal justice. Through a systematic examination of journalists’ tweets during two key trials (Ghomeshi and Saretzky), we ask to what extent can the live-tweeting of court proceedings achieve greater access to justice in Canada? We argue that while the live-tweeting does provide more access to court, potentially furthering the principle of open court, the nature of this access provides little in the way of increased engagement with the public and its understanding of the legal system. This paper makes contributions to both the legal studies and digital politics literatures.

In Canada, there are persistent allegations and some empirical evidence suggesting racialized police bias; certain (non-White) groups appear to face over-enforcement as criminal suspects and under-enforcement as victims. Yet, it is challenging to prove or disprove these claims. Unlike other countries, where governments routinely publish police-reported crime and criminal court data identifying the race/ethnicity of criminal suspects and victims, Canada maintains a ban on the publication of such data. In this article, using an intersectional and critical analysis, we examine 127 prosecuted (predominantly domestic sex) trafficking cases and explore related claims of racial and gender bias together with sensationalism in the enforcement of Canadian anti-trafficking in persons laws. Our findings align with other empirical research observing the racially selective identification and prosecution of sex trafficking cases through a heteronormative and gender binary lens. Whether real or perceived, racial—alongside gender, sexuality, economic, citizenship, and occupational—bias has significant adverse consequences for the equality, liberty, security, mobility, labour, and access to justice rights of the Indigenous, Black, Arab/Muslim and other racialized communities being policed. Our data reveal a clear and pressing need to publish race-disaggregated crime and criminal court data and to challenge deeply ingrained stereotypes using various means.

Cet article traite du concours « Le bon juge que j’aime le plus » organisé par la Cour Populaire Suprême de Chine (CPS) en 2017. Nous expliquerons l’importance du concours et les fins véritables qu’il sert dans le contexte judiciaire chinois marqué entre autres par l’exode des juges de la profession et la campagne anti-corruption du Parti Communiste Chinois. Les dossiers des dix juges modèles lauréats seront analysés afin de dégager certaines des attentes qui pèsent sur les juges chinois et le regard de la CPS sur divers enjeux de la justice. Le concours s’inscrit dans une tradition chinoise qui a traversé les siècles, le recours aux personnages modèles.

This paper reviews the history of Bill 53, the Freedom of Informed Choice (Abortions) Act. A private member’s bill introduced in the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly in 1985, Bill 53 would have imposed additional consent requirements on women seeking abortions. After concerns about its constitutionality were raised, the Bill was referred to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal, which found it fell outside provincial jurisdiction. This paper explores the connection between Bill 53 and its more well-known cousins, Morgentaler and Borowski, and examines judicial and political decision-making in the early Charter era.

L’objectif de cet article est de divulguer des résultats de recherches exploratoires sur le rapport entre le système judiciaire canadien et les victimes d’actes criminels dans le contexte de la détermination de la peine. De manière plus précise, l’auteur s’intéresse au processus de mise en forme des attentes des victimes qui opère à ce stade des procédures judiciaires. Pour observer ces mises en forme, l’auteur s’appuie sur des décisions judiciaires qui ont été rendues par les tribunaux canadiens. À partir de son corpus empirique, l’auteur décrit comment certaines attentes victimaires sont plus audibles que d’autres et comment leur intégration dans le processus de détermination de la peine varie en fonction du type d’attente et des circonstances à l’intérieur desquelles elles émergent.

Trinity Western University’s Community Covenant has been the subject of public and legal attention with specific reference to a proposed law school. At the heart of much of the contention about the law school, opponents have expressed concern about the provisions in the Covenant that restrict the rights of LGBTQI+ students—their identities and relationships. While much of the focus has been on the potential harm for LGBTQI+ students, and the expectation that law schools uphold Charter values—the voices of queer students and allies have largely been sidelined. This article offers space for LGBTQI+ students, staff and allies to discuss their lived experiences of sexual diversity and the harm facing the queer community at Trinity Western University. As they state, the Covenant is only a part of the issue; the culture it supports is what needs to change.