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This paper emphasizes the importance of cultural competence for tort law by analyzing the Federal Court’s decision in Haj Khalil v. Canada. Given that this symposium in honour of Rose Voyvodic’s life and work is entitled "Re-Imagining Access to Justice," this paper asks "how do the principles of cultural competence allow us to think about the facts of the Haj Khalil differently. In particular, what would a cause in fact analysis look like if it were informed by the principles of cultural competence?" My analysis proceeds by "reading the silences" or focusing on the unstated assumptions and unexplored elements of Haj Khalil’s story to bring into focus factors relevant to factual causation which remain largely unexplored or undervalued by the Federal Court. An examination of the facts that framed Haj Khalil`s claim against immigration officials through a culturally competent lens would open the possibility of a different understanding of causation as it arises on the facts of the case. While Canadian courts have emphasized the importance of social context for fair judgment, they have not fully come to grips with the implications of social context for judicial decision-making. This is particularly the case within negligence law which remains vexed by the need to maintain an objective standard while simultaneously recognizing the importance of context and circumstance to particular claims.

This paper presents a particular reading of Truth and Method, Hans-Georg Gadamer's landmark text, as a lens through which to consider the meaning of international texts in domestic contexts. Gadamer's thoughts have been the subject of inquiry and controversy across legal lines; yet, they remain virtually unknown within international human rights law. His absence within this circle is unfortunate because Gadamer takes up questions concerning culture, perspective, difference, and authority - issues that no international human rights scholar can hope to ignore. More importantly, however, Gadamer addresses these issues within a theory of language that proves relevant to the very structure of international human rights law itself, given that it lacks a third party arbitrator authorized to pronounce on meaning. The judicial use of international law within domestic courts brings this feature of the international regime into stark relief because the rising judicial reliance on international law has the potential to generate as many meanings of international texts as there are courts willing to engage those texts. Truth and Method expounds a theory of language that recognizes the authority of international texts and international law's governance ambitions while still accommodating variations in interpretation between national jurisdictions.

Women’s pain and death blurs the distinction between war and peace. Women are disproportionately starved, attacked physically, emotionally and psychologically, and killed during both war and peace. This paper focuses on the sanctions imposed against Iraq by the United Nations Security Council (“Se- curity Council”) in response to Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the on-going purported threat posed to international peace and security by the Iraqi regime. Intended as a humane alternative to war, the sanctions have nonetheless lead to such high levels of death and suffering, particularly among women and children, that commentators have labeled them “genocide,” a “medieval military siege,” and “a humanitarian disaster comparable to the worst catastrophes of the past decades.”

After September 11, 2001, some scholars and policy-makers promoted the racial profiling of Arabs and Muslims as a means towards greater national security. While racial profiling has not been officially sanctioned in Canada, it attracts popular support and undeniably takes place. The first part of this article identifies three different categories of racial profiling in the context of Canada's War against Terrorism. The second part identifies the problems associated with racial profiling. It argues that racial profiling undermines national security while also heightening the vulnerability and exclusion of Arabs, Muslims, and other racialized groups in Canada.

Access to justice scholars have moved from a uni-dimensional focus on the procedural and cost barriers that prevent individuals from bringing their claims to court, to a more holistic assessment of all aspects of the legal system. Focus has widened from simply an emphasis on "access" to an examination of "justice" as well. The trend is towards thinking of access to justice as three distinct yet interdependent components: substantive justice which concerns itself with an assessment of the rights claims that are available to those who seek a remedy; procedural aspects which focus on the opportunities and barriers to getting one’s claim into court (or other dispute resolution forum); and, the symbolic component of access to justice which steps outside of doctrinal law and asks to what extent a particular legal regime promotes citizens’ belonging and empowerment.

This Article identifies and explores the justifications or rationales offered by national court judges in support of their references to international human rights law. It does not analyze the extent to which judges invoke international law; rather, it examines the reasons offered by judges to explain their references to international law. The focus is on leading decisions rendered by higher courts in the United States and Commonwealth jurisdictions where the international norms do not bind decision-makers because they have not been made part of domestic law through an act of incorporation, the relevant treaty has not been ratified, or the ratifying state has filed a reservation limiting a treaty's domestic effect.

Law can be the site through which women's dignity and equality can be expressed and pursued. Speaking the language of rights translates one's needs from private interests to public claims through words and concepts that the community – local, national and/or international – have already validated. Law can therefore offer a medium to confront the injustices and unfairness built into other systems of political, social and economic ordering. Women's rights advocates have won significant victories through law and have generated gains for women's dignity and equality. However, law can also be a place where women's rights are not only silenced but where social, economic and political power structures are replicated and work against women's rights.

United Nations Security Council Resolution1325 calls for a more active role for women in the prevention and reconciliation of conflicts. Focusing on the Palestinian Right of Return and the work of a feminist organization called the JerusalemLink,this paper examines Resolution 1325’s premise that women can make a unique contribution to peace building.

Ontario’s recent order-in-council adopting the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism has been lauded by some. However, critics fear that it could be used to curtail criticism of the Israeli government.

Justin Trudeau’s use of blackface and Arab costumes has raised questions about his authenticity on diversity issues. It also highlights the ongoing discrimination faced by Arab and Muslim Canadians.

Taking Palestine as the focus of inquiry, and drawing on our experiences as co-directors of Karamah, a judicial education initiative focused on dignity, we reflect on the attributes of colonisation and the possibilities of decolonisation in Palestine through development aid. We conclude that decolonisation is possible even within development aid frameworks. We envision the current colonial condition in Palestine as a multi-faceted, complex and dynamic mesh that tightens and expands its control over the coveted colonial subject but that also contains holes that offer opportunities for resistance or refusal. We turn to Karamah to illustrate how some judges have insisted on a professional identity that merges the concepts of human dignity and self-determination and ultimately rejects the colonial condition inherent in both occupation and development aid. We conclude that in this process of professional identity (re)formation, members of the Palestinian judiciary have helped reveal the demands of decolonisation by demonstrating their commitment to realising human dignity through institutional power, and bringing occupation back into international development discourse.

Taking Palestine as the focus of inquiry, and drawing on our experiences as co-directors of Karamah, a judicial education initiative focused on dignity, we reflect on the attributes of colonisation and the possibilities of decolonisation in Palestine through development aid. We conclude that decolonisation is possible even within development aid frameworks. We envision the current colonial condition in Palestine as a multi-faceted, complex and dynamic mesh that tightens and expands its control over the coveted colonial subject but that also contains holes that offer opportunities for resistance or refusal. We turn to Karamah to illustrate how some judges have insisted on a professional identity that merges the concepts of human dignity and self-determination and ultimately rejects the colonial condition inherent in both occupation and development aid. We conclude that in this process of professional identity (re)formation, members of the Palestinian judiciary have helped reveal the demands of decolonisation by demonstrating their commitment to realising human dignity through institutional power, and bringing occupation back into international development discourse.

The decision to charge an incel youth with terrorism reinforces worrying trends in counterterrorism.

Access to Information in an Age of Intelligencized Governmentality was published in Brokering Access on page 115.

The passage of laws in Alberta and Saskatchewan granting police greater powers and weapons are seen as a direct attempt to stifle protests by Indigenous Peoples.

A co-founder of Idle No More was put on trial for ‘trespassing’ on her family’s ancestral lands. Canada has much to learn about institutionalizing respectful relationships with Indigenous peoples.