Course Outline Lecture # 01 Lecture # 02 Lecture # 03 Lecture # 04 Lecture # 05 Lecture # 06 Lecture # 07 Lecture # 08 Lecture # 09 Lecture # 10 Lecture # 11 Lecture # 12

Second Term Paper Topics (For sections C and V) Second Term Paper Topics (For section A) Lecture # 13 Lecture # 14 Lecture # 15 Lecture # 16 Lecture # 17 Lecture # 18 Lecture # 19

Questions regarding the 2nd Term Paper
Several questions have been asked regarding the requirements, especially:

1. whether your personal opinion should be included; and
2. what the meaning of "discussion" is, and whether I expect simply a summary of the cases.
3. the paragraphs in SCC decisions;
4. word length.

1. Yes, take a certain stance, but NOT (for instance) on abortion as a MORAL issue, but as a LEGAL issue. In other words, do not tell me what your feelings/emotions are, your "morality", but how you evaluate the Constitution, the "simple" statutory law, and the judicial decisions, and how you would decide as an impartial judge. --
    
2. Please have another look at the instructions in the course outline -- especially the passage:
   Other technical aspects:
   Criteria to be used in grading the course paper will be good organization and use of sources, comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the subject matter, accuracy in grammar and spelling, originality (this includes no quoting or paraphrasing of secondary sources without explicit acknowledgement), accuracy (in grammar, spelling, and law), conciseness, reasoned analysis (discussion of pros and cons, comparisons, assessments, use of concrete examples, logical arguments, etc., rather than pure description or pure subjective opinion), and clarity. Use gender-appropriate language (e.g., avoiding use of male gender alone where both genders are relevant).
   
     In this context, please highlight the following phrases: "... reasoned analysis (discussion of pros and cons, comparisons, assessments, use of concrete examples, logical arguments, etc., rather than pure description or pure subjective opinion)..." -- I trust that you will admit that this is as concrete a task as possible in the circumstances. In short: you are expected to give a "reasoned analysis!"
3. Only the more recent SCC decisions (i.e. after 1995) are numbered by paragraphs. In general, older decisions, for instance Borowski or Daigle, can only be quoted by page, e.g. from the Supreme Court Reports (S.C.R.) -- which is only possible if you have access to the hardcopy S.C.R. The UofM Internet rendition of these older decisions, alas, does not lend itself to "paging". If you want to quote from those decisions but have no access to the "hardcopy" S.C.R. or other law reports, please refer to the judge and her/his opinion in the relevant case and mention (but only the first time, in general) that you have to quote from the "pageless" Web).
   SOME of the more important pre-1995 decisions, e.g. Morgentaler (No. 2) of 1988, have meanwhile been "paragraph-numbered" for the Web by the UofM Internet editors.
   Even in the "numbered" decisions, the so-called headnotes are not numbered. The paragraphs (usually abridged as "para." in the singular and "paras." in the plural) begin only with "real" judicial opinion(s). Example: In Morgentaler (No. 2), the paras. begin with "1. THE CHIEF JUSTICE--". The opinion of Wilson J. begins with para. 217.
   Again: Whenever possible, please cite the paragraph(s).
4. For the 2nd Term Paper, a margin of 100 words on either side of the 2000 word limit will be acceptable.

Welcome Students of Section A

• Course Outline:
  Please note that the Course Outline on this Website covers only Sections C and V. The Course Outline for Section A, in the form in which is was handed out last fall by Professor Crawford, is still available on the Website of the Dept. of Law.
• 2nd Term Paper Topics:
  Please note the difference between Sections A and the other two Sections!
• NEWS, PowerPoint Slides, etc:
  Please feel free to make use of all other information on this Course Website. You may wish to view and/or print out the PowerPoint slides (=class notes) which are posted before each class, in order to make note-taking easier.

Regarding Term Papers -- Please note:
When quoting (in footnotes, etc.) from recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions, please refer always to the various paragraphs (paras.) - In other words, just citing the Internet link for the whole decision when referring to a specific para. is not enough.

The whole text of the 1987 Constitutional Accord (Meech Lake Accord) is available on the Internet:
http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/Proposals/MeechLake.html

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