Public Law II:
THE
CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
and the Limits of Public
Administration
AS/POLS 3605 3.0 and GL/POLS
3136 3.0
This is the web page for Section A of
Public
Law II, 2005-06 (winter term), Fridays, 2:30 - 4:00 (sometimes to 5:30).
The final exam for AS/POLS 3605 3.0 and
GL/POLS 3136 3.0 will be held on Friday, April 21, 7 p.m. to 9
p.m., in Room 001, Accolade East for Keele Campus students.
Glendon students will write the exam in 144 York Hall,
Glendon College. (Keele students who have attended at Glendon may
write the exam at Glendon.)
Course Director: Ian Greene; igreene@yorku.ca
Office: 224 McLaughlin College, Ph: 736-5128, ext. 77055
Usual Office Hours (check Prof. Greene's home page for temporary
changes)
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:00 to 11:00, or by appointment.
(Note: office hours are cancelled during
reading week.)
Teaching Assistants:
•For electronic discussion groups, course-related questions, and
writing assignments: Kristopher Crawford-Dickinson;
kris.dickinson@sympatico.ca
Office Hours:
•For students taking the course at the Glendon campus:
Patrick
Tomlinson; pjt@yorku.ca
Office Hours:
•For exams: Charles
Smith; chuck@yorku.ca
Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:00 to 2:30, and
4:00 to 5:30 p.m., S628 Ross
NOTE:
This course is being offered as a technology-enhanced learning
course.
Lectures will be held Friday afternoons from 2:30 to 4:00 in Stedman D
or 144 York Hall at Glendon College;
they will be videoconferenced to the other campus. Most
tutorials
will be conducted on WebCT at a time convenient to students; some will
be held in person from 4:00 to 5:20. Students who want an
in-person tutorial in place of an electronic tutorial on WebCT must
attend the class at the Glendon campus.
All students in this course MUST
register for a York WebCT
account.
To activate your York WebCT Account, first activate your York email,
and then go to this web page:
http://www.yorku.ca/fsc/webct/student/quickstart.htm#activatewebctservice
Lectures:
Fridays, 2:30 – 4:00 in Stedman
Lecture Hall D
Seminars: Approximately 1.5 Hours per week on
WebCT, and sometimes "live" between 4:00 and 5:30.
20 Minute Seminar Group Meetings
As Assigned (bi-weekly basis)
In-person seminars will be conducted at the Glendon campus
from 4:00 to 5:30 every Friday for those students who choose to attend
at the Glendon campus.
Course Overview: This
course examines key provisions in the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms as the courts have interpreted them. This includes
freedoms of expression and association; right to life, liberty and the
security of the persons; equality rights and non-discrimination; and
the rights of Aboriginal peoples. In addition, a section of the
course is devoted to judicial review of public administration.
Recommended (but not required) prerequisites include: AS/POLS 2100.06
or AS/POLS 2610.06 and
AS/POLS 3600.03 or advice from the instructor about gaining appropriate
background. The first four videostreamed lectures from Public Law
I are linked to the WebCT site, and these should provide sufficient
background for students who do not have a background in the Canadian
court system.
The course outline, in Word format, can be obtained here.
Purpose of Course: This
course will examine the influence of the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms both on jurisprudence and politics in general.
Principles of legal interpretation and the practical political
implications of Charter decisions will be discussed. The object
of the course is to review a number of aspects of human rights
legislation and case law in Canada that are relevant to those who may
work in the public sector in the future, or in the private sector in
areas that interact with government.
The course outline can be downloaded from the WebCT account.
Students will be divided into
tutorial
groups of about 15 students each. Each group will prepare for a
mock
trial
to be held toward the end of term. Students will prepare written
assignments associated with the mock trial (eg. students assigned to be
judges will write judgments; students assigned as counsel will write
factums
[arguments]; students assigned as expert witnesses will write
affidavits
[reports].) Each mock trial will be videotaped and webstreamed
for
all tutorial groups to view. Students
who completed AS/POLS 3600 3.0 in the fall term of 2004 or 2005 must
assume a
different role in the mock trial for POLS 3605 than the role they
assumed in POLS 3600.
Relation Between POLS 3600.03 and POLS
3605.03: Both of these
courses are required for PPA majors, and most students take both
courses during the same fall-winter term (PPA students may take AK/POLS
3405.06 or AS/SOSC 3360.60 instead of POLS 36053.0). About half
of Peter Hogg’s text is recommended reading in POLS 3600.03, and the
other half is recommended reading in POLS 3605.03.
Format: There will be 1.5
hours class on Friday afternoons from
2:30-4:00 and either 1.5 hours weekly WebCT participation or attendance
at the Glendon tutorial. The WebCT
participation will consist of discussing weekly questions posted by the
Teaching Assistant to the individual groups. Further, the WebCT
participation will consist of attending mandatory bi-weekly group
meetings and one Learning Seminar for the Mock Trial (the date and
seminar topic will depend on the role selected by the student).
70% Mandatory Lecture
Attendance: Students are expected to attend 70% of the lectures
(i.e. at least 8 lectures).
Failure to do so, absent extraordinary circumstances, will result in
the student not receiving the credit. An attendance sheet will be
passed around each class. It is the student’s responsibility to
ensure that he/she signs the attendance sheet before leaving
class. Failure to do so will result in a recording of an absence
in lecture for that day.
READINGS:
Required: The following are required readings:
Course Kit: This
consists of a kit of required readings. This kit can be purchased
from the Keele Copy Centre, 416-665-9675
4699 Keele Street, across from York
University. (Some copies will be brought to the first class for
sale).
Ian Greene, The Charter of Rights
(Toronto: Lorimer, 1989).
Court Cases Posted On WebCT. Students are expected to
read the decisions from WebCT. They will be located under the
“Course Content” Section under the Folder Heading of “Recent Supreme
Court Decisions”.
Recommended: The following text is recommended:
Peter W. Hogg, Constitutional Law of Canada 2004 Student Edition
(Toronto: Carswell, 2004). Earlier editions are also useful.
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADING:
Assignments and Grade:
Letter to the Editor
on the December 21, 2005 Supreme Court decision
that dismissed charges against individuals
operating a "swingers" club in Montreal. (R. v. Kouri, 2005 SCC
81, which can be located through the
Supreme Court of Canada judgments website at
http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/rec/index.html).
(Due January
20, 2006)
5%
Mid-Term Examination (Friday, February 10, 2005)
20%
WebCT Participation (Weekly Participation in Discussions on Questions
Posted By TA)
10%
Mock Trial
35%
Skeleton Outline For Mock Trial (Due date depends on
role)
10%
Final Paper (Due date depends on role)
20%
Oral Presentation on Mock Trial (March 17, 2005 or
March 24, 2006)
5%
Final Examination (During final exam period)
30%
Note: All assignments are mandatory. Failure to hand in an
assignment will result in an incomplete for the course.
Useful links:
Supreme
Court
of Canada
Canadian
Information
by Subject
Ontario Court
of Justice
Access to Justice Network
Charter of
Rights Decisions on Mapleleafweb
<>The Canadian
court
structure
Constitution Acts, 1867
to 1982
Reference
re Same Sex Marriage
Canadian Judicial Council
How
federally-appointed
judges are selected
How
provincially-appointed judges are selected in Ontario
Ethics
Statement of Canadian Judicial Council
Fundamental
Freedoms documentary on the Charter
Citations
Guide, by Kristopher Crawford-Dickinson
This
Grading Sheet must be attached to all case commentary assignments when
handed in
This Grading Sheet must
be attached to all SKELETON
OUTLINES when handed in
Kris Crawford-Dickinson: Ten
Steps on How to Write and "A" Paper
Overheads from class:
January
6 powerpoint
January
13 powerpoint
January
20 powerpoint
January
27 powerpoint
February
3 powerpoint
Review
for February 10 mid-term exam
February 24 powerpoint
March 3 powerpoint
March 10 lunch talk (for March 10
lecture see WebCT site)
March
17 powerpoint
March 24 powerpoint
March 31 powerpoint