The Criminal Justice Course
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Syllabus
FAQs
How to develop effective readings skills
Preparing for and writing exams
Introduction
1. Emotions and the Law: Seeing Criminal Justice as a Defendant or Victim
2. Crime and Criminal Justice as Social Phenomena
3. The Nature of Criminal Justice
The Historical Development of Criminal Justice
1. General
2. In Canada
The Theory of Criminal Justice
1. The Utility of Punishment
2. The Justification of Punishment
3. The Critique of Punishment
Models of criminal justice compared
1. Authoritarian v. Liberal
2. "Western" Retributive v. "Indigenous" Restorative?
3. Common Law v. Romano-Germanic Law
Criminal Jurisdiction
1. The territorial reach of criminal justice
2. Criminal justice and legal pluralism
The Sources of Criminal Law
1. The constitutional framework of the criminal law
2. Foreign and International Impacts on Criminal Justice
Policing
1: Policing and surveillance
2. The Use of Constraint: Search, Seizure and Arrest Powers
3. Investigation and interrogation
Rights of the suspect and the defendant
1. Custody and Bail
2. The Presumption of Innocence
3. The Right to a Lawyer
4. The Right to Be Tried Within a Reasonable Delay
General Principles of the Criminal Law
1. The Principle of Legality
2. Criminal Responsibility and Capacity 1: Juvenile Justice
3. Criminal Capacity and Responsibility 2. Mental Disorder
4. Statutes of Limitations and Double Jeopardy
Criminal Offences
1. The fundamental nature of the criminal offence and the difference between categories of crimes
2. Causality: "chains of causation," "thin skulls" and "novus actus interveniens"
3. Absolute, Objective or Subjective Criminal Liability (and for What Offences?)
4. Understanding Mens Rea: Objective and Subjective Fault Requirements
5. Inchoate, impossible and imaginary offences
6. Voluntariness: automatism, duress, necessity and intoxication
7. Participation: How much does it take to commit a crime?
The Principal Actors of the Criminal Justice System: Status and Role
1. The Role, Independence and Impartiality of Judges
2. Prosecutors: How Far Should Discretion Go?
3. Should Juries Be "Representative" and How?
4. Defence Lawyers: The Ethics of Defending
5. What Role for Victims?
Basics of Procedure
1. Plea Bargaining
2. Equality of arms, disclosure and evidence
3. Remedies for Rights Violations and Evidence Exclusion Rules
Sentencing and Clemency
Cross-Cutting Issues
1. Sexual assault: consent, "rape shield", and mistake
2. Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
3. Depenalization, with Focus on Drugs
2. Discrimination in the Criminal Justice System
Class Preparation:
“
Systemic Barriers to Racially Representative Law Enforcement Agencies
.”
Ontario Human Rights Commission
. Accessed March 8, 2017.
“
Supreme Court Takes On Racial Discrimination In Jury Selection
.”
NPR.org
. Accessed March 8, 2017.
Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi. “
Canadian Judge Acknowledges Anti-Black Racism in Court
.”
Spacing National
, June 28, 2016.
Paul Schabas,
"Law Society dedicated to countering systemic racism"
,
The Star
(21 November 2017)
Jasjit, Goraya.
“
The Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in Canada’s Criminal Justice System
.”
The Public Policy & Governance Review
, March 9, 2015.
R. v.Spence
, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 458, 2005 SCC 71 (headnote only)
Ford, Matt, “
Justice Sotomayor’s Ringing Dissent
”
The Atlantic
nos. (2016).
David M. Tanovich,
"The Colourless World of Mann"
(2004) 21:6 Criminal Reports 47.
Canada (Human Rights Commission)
v.
Taylor
, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 892 (headnote only).
"Damages awarded in racial profiling case"
,
Law Times
, Accessed September 18, 2017.
Michael Bryan,
"When is it OK for a politician to comment on a court case?"
,
The Star
(17 March 2018).
“Un Recours Collectif Contre Le SPVM Pour Profilage Racial Se Prépare.” TVA Nouvelles. Accessed April 4, 2018.
http://www.tvanouvelles.ca/2018/03/30/un-recours-collectif-contre-le-spvm-pour-profilage-racial-se-prepare
.
“
Proposed Class-Action Lawsuit Alleges Racial Profiling by Durham Police
| Toronto Star.”
Thestar.com
. Accessed March 8, 2017.
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