The first year is divided into four sections of about 72 students each. Four courses are offered in the Fall Semester and five in the Winter Semester, a couple of which in each semester will be taught partly in small groups of about 20 to 25 students. All students are required to take Contracts, Torts, Criminal Law and Introduction to Canadian Public Law in the Fall Semester; and Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law and Property in the Winter Semester. Legal Research and Writing is offered over both semesters and teaches students how to do legal research and how to present the results of that research in various forms. In the Winter Semester, students choose a "Perspective Option" from a range of courses, including Dispute Settlement, First Nations and the Law, History of Canadian Law, Jurisprudence, Law Gender and Equality, Statutory Interpretation, Law and Social Change, or Legal Profession. These courses aim to give the student a broader and more informed particular perspective on the law.

First-Year Courses

Civil Procedure
This course concerns the practice and problems relating to the procedure of prosecuting or defending a civil action from the time that the client is first interviewed through to the trial stage.

Constitutional Law
This course provides an introduction to the basic principles of Canadian Constitutional Law. The course covers the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the principles of federalism.

Contracts
This is an introductory survey of the law relating to the judicial enforcement of promises. Of primary concern are the problems associated with the formation and enforcement of commercial and consumer transactions such as agreements to buy and sell goods or supply services.

Criminal Law
This course examines the general principles of liability under the criminal law and various procedural matters relating to the trial of an accused person. The course provides a general introduction to the criminal process and notions of criminal procedure, evidence and sentencing.

Property Law
Students are introduced to the basic principles of property law in a context that permits a critical examination of law. Students are encouraged to develop an understanding of the unique historical role that property law has played in the development of our legal and economic systems.

Torts
The law of torts is primarily concerned with compensation for injury or loss caused by another person's fault.

Introduction to Canadian Public Law
This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of the basic elements of Canadian public law in their first term of study at law school. The course focuses on the scope of the term "public law; an overview of the main elements of the Canadian constitution; the "branches" of Canadian; the policy and legislative process by which statutes and regulations come into being; the nature and growth of subordinate legislation; the principle of the rule of law, the role of the judiciary and judicial review of legislation; an introduction to the concept of judicial review of delegated powers and administrative action and the nature of statutory interpretation and various approaches to legal interpretation.

Legal Research and Writing
First-year Legal Research and Writing focuses on the skills of "finding the law" and communicating legal information clearly and effectively. The course introduces students to necessary research skills, approaches to legal analysis and standards of communicating orally and in writing.

First-Year Perspective Option Courses
(Varies annually)

Law & Social Change: Policing
Instructor: Professor M. Beare

Legal Politics
Instructor: N. Cote, Adjunct Professor

Dispute Settlement
Instructor: J. Maresca, Adjunct Professor

History of Canadian Law
Instructor: Professor D. Hay

Sexuality & the Law
Instructor: Professor B. Ryder

Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Instructor: Professor G. Christie

Globalization & the Law
Instructor: Peer Zumbansen, Visiting Professor

Law, Gender & Equality
Instructor:

Tax as an Instrument
Instructor: Professor N. Brooks

Law & Poverty
Instructor: C. Morton, Adjunct Professor

Legal Values: Information & Privacy
Instructor: C. Beagan Flood, Adjunct Professor