English Article Prize Winners
2021
First Prize: Samuel Singer, "Trans Rights Are Not Just Human Rights: Legal Strategies for Trans Justice" (35:2, pp. 293-315):
Singer uses examples from family law, youth protection cases, and situations involving disclosures of legal name and gender in the justice system to highlight how human rights law is insufficient to address all legal challenges faced by trans people, while also illustrating how "[t]he problem with learning about trans needs from trans jurisprudence [...] is that the case law leaves out the many trans people who cannot access the legal system." The limits of formal equality and law reform in the particular context of trans rights are compellingly illustrated. This research is important, timely, and contributes not just to the scholarship on issues affecting trans people, but also to the body of literature on legal and extra-legal strategies for social change more broadly. It will be of interest to a range of audiences, and Part VIII's discussion of "From Trans Rights to Trans Justice" renders the contribution more than merely theoretical. The piece does a good job of surveying existing trans scholarship, while also contributing something new to the conversation. It is clearly written and organized, and it engages directly, and generously, with a wide variety of scholars.
Honourable Mention: Iyad Mohammad Jadalhaq & Luigi Russi, "Finding Direction at the Edge of Law and Life: Islamic Fiqh, Correspondence, and UAE Takāful Insurance Regulation" (35:3, pp. 477-497):
The subject of Jadalhaq and Russi's piece, the search for Shariah-compliant financial products, seems at first blush to be highly technical. The piece is exceptional, however, in the way it uses the development of new forms of financial products to inquire into the nature of Islamic law. For the authors, the development of Shariah-compliant commercial insurance products demonstrates how the Islamic legal system is alive in its interaction with social practices. They illustrate this with a focus on the shift in financial products from those that took the form of donations, to a separate fund that avoided bilateral arrangements, and finally to placing that fund in a separate legal person. These successive attempts to avoid breaching the prohibition of excessive risk corresponded with an increasingly refined discussion of what was specifically prohibited and permitted in Islamic law. So, instead of operating as a form of logical deduction from first principles, the authors conceive of the Islamic legal system as a "process of continuous correspondence with the particular circumstances of real life problems." This insight, animated by a deeper sense of law as process, has much to teach those interested in not only Islamic law, but law in general.
2020
Philip Boyle and Tia Dafnos, "Infrastructures of Pacification: Vital Points, Critical Infrastructure, and Police Power in Canada" (2019) 34(1) CJLS/RCDS 79-98.
Honourable mention: Christa Scholtz & Maryna Polataiko, "Transgressing the Division of Powers: The Case of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement" (2019) 34(3) CJLS/RCDS 393-415.
2019
Anna C. Pratt and Jessica Templeman, "Jurisdiction, Sovereignties and Akwesasne: Shiprider and the Re-Crafting of Canada-US Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement" (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 335-57.
Honourable mention: Andrea Sterling and Emily van der Meulen, "'We Are Not Criminals': Sex Work Clients and the Constitution of Risk Knowledge" (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 291-308.
2018
Jennifer Raso, "Displacement as Regulation: New Regulatory Technologies and Front-Line Decision-Making in Ontario Works" (2017) 32 CJLS/RCDS 75-95.
Honourable mention: Lisa Kerr, "Sentencing Ashley Smith: How Prison Conditions Relate to the Aims of Punishment" (2017) 32 CJLS/ACDS 187-207.
2017
Marianne Quirouette, Tyler Frederick, Jean Hughes, Jeff Karabanow and Sean Kidd, "'Conflict with the Law': Regulation & Homeless Youth Trajectories Toward Stability" (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 383-404.
Honourable mention: Barry D. Adam, Jason Globerman, Richard Elliott, Patrice Corriveau, Ken English and Sean Rourke, "HIV Positive People’s Perspectives on Canadian Criminal Law and Non-Disclosure" (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 1-23.
2016
G. Blaine Baker, "Testamentary Archeology in Late-Victorian Ontario: William Martin's Little, Posthumous Legal System" (2015) 30 CJLS/RCDS 345-63.
Honourable mention: Anita Lam and Lily Cho, "Under the Lucky Moose: Belatedness and Citizen's Arrest in Canada" (2015) 30 CJLS/RCDS 147-62.
2015
Eva Mackey, "Unsettling Expectations: (Un)Certainty, Settler States of Feeling, Law, and Decolonization" (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 235-52.
Honourable mention: Lori Chambers and Jen Roth, "Prejudice Unveiled: The Niqab in Court" (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 381-95.
2014
Shiri Pasternak, Sue Collis and Tia Dafnos, "Criminalization at Tyendinaga: Securing Canada’s Colonial Property Regime through Specific Land Claims" (2013) 28 CJLS/RCDS 65-81.
Honourable mention: Matthew Tomm, "Public Reason and the Disempowerment of Aboriginal People in Canada" (2013) 28 CJLS/RCDS 293-314.
2013
Sarah Marsden, "The New Precariousness: Temporary Migrants and the Law in Canada" (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 209-29.
Honourable mention: Sarah Hamill, "Making the Law Work: Alberta’s Liquor Act and the Control of Medicinal Liquor from 1916 to 1924" (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 249-65.
2011
Lori Chambers, "Women’s Labour, Relationship Breakdown and Ownership of the Family Farm" (2010) 25 CJLS/RCDS 75-95.
First Prize: Samuel Singer, "Trans Rights Are Not Just Human Rights: Legal Strategies for Trans Justice" (35:2, pp. 293-315):
Singer uses examples from family law, youth protection cases, and situations involving disclosures of legal name and gender in the justice system to highlight how human rights law is insufficient to address all legal challenges faced by trans people, while also illustrating how "[t]he problem with learning about trans needs from trans jurisprudence [...] is that the case law leaves out the many trans people who cannot access the legal system." The limits of formal equality and law reform in the particular context of trans rights are compellingly illustrated. This research is important, timely, and contributes not just to the scholarship on issues affecting trans people, but also to the body of literature on legal and extra-legal strategies for social change more broadly. It will be of interest to a range of audiences, and Part VIII's discussion of "From Trans Rights to Trans Justice" renders the contribution more than merely theoretical. The piece does a good job of surveying existing trans scholarship, while also contributing something new to the conversation. It is clearly written and organized, and it engages directly, and generously, with a wide variety of scholars.
Honourable Mention: Iyad Mohammad Jadalhaq & Luigi Russi, "Finding Direction at the Edge of Law and Life: Islamic Fiqh, Correspondence, and UAE Takāful Insurance Regulation" (35:3, pp. 477-497):
The subject of Jadalhaq and Russi's piece, the search for Shariah-compliant financial products, seems at first blush to be highly technical. The piece is exceptional, however, in the way it uses the development of new forms of financial products to inquire into the nature of Islamic law. For the authors, the development of Shariah-compliant commercial insurance products demonstrates how the Islamic legal system is alive in its interaction with social practices. They illustrate this with a focus on the shift in financial products from those that took the form of donations, to a separate fund that avoided bilateral arrangements, and finally to placing that fund in a separate legal person. These successive attempts to avoid breaching the prohibition of excessive risk corresponded with an increasingly refined discussion of what was specifically prohibited and permitted in Islamic law. So, instead of operating as a form of logical deduction from first principles, the authors conceive of the Islamic legal system as a "process of continuous correspondence with the particular circumstances of real life problems." This insight, animated by a deeper sense of law as process, has much to teach those interested in not only Islamic law, but law in general.
2020
Philip Boyle and Tia Dafnos, "Infrastructures of Pacification: Vital Points, Critical Infrastructure, and Police Power in Canada" (2019) 34(1) CJLS/RCDS 79-98.
Honourable mention: Christa Scholtz & Maryna Polataiko, "Transgressing the Division of Powers: The Case of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement" (2019) 34(3) CJLS/RCDS 393-415.
2019
Anna C. Pratt and Jessica Templeman, "Jurisdiction, Sovereignties and Akwesasne: Shiprider and the Re-Crafting of Canada-US Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement" (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 335-57.
Honourable mention: Andrea Sterling and Emily van der Meulen, "'We Are Not Criminals': Sex Work Clients and the Constitution of Risk Knowledge" (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 291-308.
2018
Jennifer Raso, "Displacement as Regulation: New Regulatory Technologies and Front-Line Decision-Making in Ontario Works" (2017) 32 CJLS/RCDS 75-95.
Honourable mention: Lisa Kerr, "Sentencing Ashley Smith: How Prison Conditions Relate to the Aims of Punishment" (2017) 32 CJLS/ACDS 187-207.
2017
Marianne Quirouette, Tyler Frederick, Jean Hughes, Jeff Karabanow and Sean Kidd, "'Conflict with the Law': Regulation & Homeless Youth Trajectories Toward Stability" (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 383-404.
Honourable mention: Barry D. Adam, Jason Globerman, Richard Elliott, Patrice Corriveau, Ken English and Sean Rourke, "HIV Positive People’s Perspectives on Canadian Criminal Law and Non-Disclosure" (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 1-23.
2016
G. Blaine Baker, "Testamentary Archeology in Late-Victorian Ontario: William Martin's Little, Posthumous Legal System" (2015) 30 CJLS/RCDS 345-63.
Honourable mention: Anita Lam and Lily Cho, "Under the Lucky Moose: Belatedness and Citizen's Arrest in Canada" (2015) 30 CJLS/RCDS 147-62.
2015
Eva Mackey, "Unsettling Expectations: (Un)Certainty, Settler States of Feeling, Law, and Decolonization" (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 235-52.
Honourable mention: Lori Chambers and Jen Roth, "Prejudice Unveiled: The Niqab in Court" (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 381-95.
2014
Shiri Pasternak, Sue Collis and Tia Dafnos, "Criminalization at Tyendinaga: Securing Canada’s Colonial Property Regime through Specific Land Claims" (2013) 28 CJLS/RCDS 65-81.
Honourable mention: Matthew Tomm, "Public Reason and the Disempowerment of Aboriginal People in Canada" (2013) 28 CJLS/RCDS 293-314.
2013
Sarah Marsden, "The New Precariousness: Temporary Migrants and the Law in Canada" (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 209-29.
Honourable mention: Sarah Hamill, "Making the Law Work: Alberta’s Liquor Act and the Control of Medicinal Liquor from 1916 to 1924" (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 249-65.
2011
Lori Chambers, "Women’s Labour, Relationship Breakdown and Ownership of the Family Farm" (2010) 25 CJLS/RCDS 75-95.
French Article Prize Winners
2019
Brieg Capitaine, « Sortir de la violence : La Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada sur les pensionnats indiens » (2017) 32 CJLS/RCDS 349-69.
Honourable mention: Marie-Neige Laperrière, « Perspective féministe sur l'article 1974.1 du Code Civil du Québec: Une protection efficace dans la vie des femmes locataires victimes de violences? » (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 41-59.
2017
Mélanie Méthot, « Le marriage, c’est l’affaire de l’Église : pouvoir d’État et bigamie » (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 429-49.
2015
Ronald Niezen and Marie-Pierre Gadoua, « Témoignage et histoire dans la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada » (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 21-42.
2013
Richard Dubé, « La théorie de dissuasion remise en question par la rationalité du risque » (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 1-29.
2011
Sébastien Grammond, « L’appartenance aux communatés inuit du Nunavik: un cas de réception de l’ordre juridique inuit? » (2008) 23 CJLS/RCDS 93-119.
Brieg Capitaine, « Sortir de la violence : La Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada sur les pensionnats indiens » (2017) 32 CJLS/RCDS 349-69.
Honourable mention: Marie-Neige Laperrière, « Perspective féministe sur l'article 1974.1 du Code Civil du Québec: Une protection efficace dans la vie des femmes locataires victimes de violences? » (2018) 33 CJLS/RCDS 41-59.
2017
Mélanie Méthot, « Le marriage, c’est l’affaire de l’Église : pouvoir d’État et bigamie » (2016) 31 CJLS/RCDS 429-49.
2015
Ronald Niezen and Marie-Pierre Gadoua, « Témoignage et histoire dans la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation du Canada » (2014) 29 CJLS/RCDS 21-42.
2013
Richard Dubé, « La théorie de dissuasion remise en question par la rationalité du risque » (2012) 27 CJLS/RCDS 1-29.
2011
Sébastien Grammond, « L’appartenance aux communatés inuit du Nunavik: un cas de réception de l’ordre juridique inuit? » (2008) 23 CJLS/RCDS 93-119.