Research suggests there are neurological predictors of violence, such as brain function abnormalities most frequently displayed by violent offenders who may suffer from a psychological phenomenon termed “psychopathy.” Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can detect signs of some of these brain abnormalities. Neurological markers of violence, evident in a convicted individual’s fMRI results, could speak to that offender’s tendency to act violently in the future. Can fMRI play a meaningful role in estimating recidivism rates and in sentencing? Even if fMRI evidence meets legal thresholds for use in sentencing, should it be employed in light of many concerns, such as reliability, as the implications of predicting an individual’s dangerousness based on fMRI evidence are substantial, especially in the context of defendant rights. Moreover, neurological indicators of violence may undermine a holistic approach to sentencing that considers the convicted individual’s particular story.

The issue of the protection of the small retailers in shopping centers deserves to be addressed since those retailers do not always have the economical weight to negotiate their leases on an equal footing with their landlords. In Canada and France, this situation is not dealt the same way: where Canada relies on contractual freedom to balance the interests involved, France is very protective. This thesis aims to study and compare those two regimes and tries to determine whether small retailers need protection.

Barbados enacted the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act in the year 2001. This Act is based entirely on the Canadian Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Barbados reformed its bankruptcy and insolvency laws in order to offer greater protection to debtors while simultaneously protecting creditors from fraud. Additionally, the new reforms were designed to remove the stigma that attaches to insolvent and bankrupt individuals and businesses and to make Barbados a more attractive destination for the creation of and investment in new businesses. Despite the existence of a legislative framework designed to assist debtors and creditors only five matters have been initiated under the Barbados Act. In this thesis I examine why there has been reluctance to rely on the Act. Ultimately, I conclude that the bankruptcy and insolvency regime that exists in Barbados is ineffective and lacks many of the features that are necessary for the efficient administration of bankruptcies and insolvencies.

Explicit legal protections for trans individuals are necessary in Canadian human rights and antidiscrimination jurisprudence. The current grounds of protection against discrimination that trans individuals must rely upon (i.e., sexual orientation discrimination, disability discrimination and sex discrimination) insufficiently recognize trans individuals and the trans discrimination they face. I propose that a multi-level framework of explicit legal protections is required to address these insufficiencies. This framework includes the recognition of an analogous ground of Gender Identity and Gender Expression under the Charter, amendments to human rights legislation incorporating trans protections into prohibited grounds of discrimination at federal and provincial levels, and finally explicit recognition of trans individuals and trans discrimination in legal arguments and in litigation. This framework will allow for mutual reinforcement at multiple levels and promote development of trans specific jurisprudence. With such explicit legal protections in place trans individuals will be better protected against trans discrimination in Canada.

The Philippines and Vatican City are the only states left in the world without divorce. While the Philippines recognize relative divorce, or legal separation as termed under its Family Code, it has not sanctioned absolute divorce in the country except for Muslims and foreigners. During pre-colonial times and the Japanese occupation of the country, absolute divorce was legal and widely practiced. The thesis argues for the reintroduction of absolute divorce into Philippine law on a legal, pragmatic, and rights-based approach. It argues that divorce protects and strengthens the family; it is legal, constitutional, and in compliance with the international human rights obligations of the Philippines; it answers the issues on and inadequacies of the existing legal framework on nullity, annulment, and legal separation; it is one of the solutions to decrease, if not end, spousal violence; and its absence is discriminatory on the grounds of social class, religion, and nationality.

It has been endlessly demonstrated that the provinces will stand in the way of successful negotiations towards a common or national securities regulator in Canada. While there are many flaws in the current regulatory system, there are aspects of a decentralized model that can be valuable, particularly in a country with such regional diversity. Moving forward, policy development should focus on strengthening the current system while realizing the political realities that persist. By retaining various aspects of a decentralized model, yet also cooperating with the federal government to overcome issues that a national regulator might have resolved, there is potential for Canada’s system to prevail.

This thesis will provide an argument against the use of immigration detention for asylum seekers. The thesis will critically analyse the law and policy of immigration detention in Canada. It will argue that the current policy of immigration detention in Canada does not comply with international human rights and obligations. The current policy of immigration detention does not reflect the values enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedom, and the policy of mandatory detention should be abolished immediately. Immigration Detention should be a last resort, only enforced after alternatives to detention have been considered. There should be regular reviews of detention, equally applicable to all immigrants, and detention should last for as brief a period as possible.

Scholars and midwives agree that women’s autonomy over decisions related to birth is not being respected in a country where there is mainly one birth setting and one type of provider, in particular, when this setting and provider are often link to the use of unnecessary and excessive medical interventions. This is the case of Puerto Rico. I argue that midwifery could be an answer to this problem. Midwifery in Puerto Rico is not yet regulated, but I claim that in order to promote Puerto Rican women’s autonomy, midwifery regulation has to be well thought. This thesis includes an analysis of a bill proposed in Puerto Rico that pretended to regulate midwifery. Submissions presented to the legislature are also analyzed and criticized in this thesis. Some recommendations are provided on how Puerto Rico can enact a sensible scheme of midwifery regulation that would enhance midwives autonomy and therefore women’s autonomy.

This thesis surveys the last three decades of Canadian jurisprudence on the standards of review applicable to judicial review of substantive administrative decisions, with a focus on the guidance that is or is not forthcoming on the significance and practical application of reasonableness (deferential) review. My argument is that the doctrinal developments I survey trace out a burgeoning understanding of the purposes of substantive review which is at the same time a particular understanding of administrative state legitimacy. I refer to an account of legitimacy, or the legitimacy proper to law, that conceives of law as an aspirational project aimed at fostering relationships of reciprocity as between legal subjects and legal authorities. On this account (advanced in the work of David Dyzenhaus, and others), common law administrative law principles of procedural fairness and substantive reasonableness function as co-ordinate mechanisms for grounding administrative decision-making in a “culture of justification”.

The Supreme Court of Canada has attempted several times to reform the way it approaches the issue of curial deference in judicial review. Each attempt however, has been in vain. This paper argues that the cause of this failure of each reform of the deference test proposed by the Supreme Court is not necessarily one of content, but instead one of structure. Each of the reforms retained a ‘multifactorial approach’ to the deference test, involving the weighing of several factors leading to a prescribed level of deference. Through critical analysis of the approach, and the postulation of an alternative, this paper argues that the multifactorial approach is what thwarts the Court’s intentions, and that it needs to abandon it should it wish to achieve clarity and coherence within judicial review.