Program

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2024

• Lobby 

5:00 pm – 7:00 pm 

Welcome Reception at the Supreme Court of Canada

• Welcome (Justice Sheilah Martin, Supreme Court of Canada) 

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024

7:30 am – 8.30 am 

•  Lobby 

 Registration

Welcome

• Room 147 

•  Introduction to the Conference (Michael Pal, University of Ottawa) 

• Smudging Ceremony (Claudette Commanda, Chancellor of the University of Ottawa) 

• Director’s Welcome (Jason Varuhas, University of Melbourne) 

9.15 am – 10:45 am 

Plenary Panel Session – Mixed Systems: Canada

• Room 147 

• Professor Vanessa MacDonnell (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists  

• Justice Sheilah Martin (Supreme Court of Canada) 

• Chief Justice Glenn Joyal (Court of the King’s Bench of Manitoba) 

• Professor Sarah Morales (University of Victoria) 

• Professor Jérémy Boulanger-Bonnelly (McGill University) 

10:45 am – 11:00 am 

• Atrium 

Parallel Panel Session (3)

Institutions & The Fourth Branch 

• Room 351 

• Jason Varuhas (University of Melbourne) 

Panellists 

• Eoin Carolan, University College Dublin, “A Duty to Obey or a Power to Disagree?: An Examination of Inter-Institutional Disagreement” 

• Hanna Wilberg, University of Auckland, “Watching over the Watchdog: Do We Need Judicial Review of the Ombudsman

• Michael Pal, University of Ottawa, “Fourth Branch Constitutionalism”  

Indigenous Legal Traditions, Rights & Relations 

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Sara Mainville (JFK Law LLP)  

Panellists 

• Narelle Bedford, Bond University, “Australian Public Law and First Nations Peoples: The Aftermath of The Voice Referendum”

• Dwight Newman, University of Saskatchewan, “Emerging Constitutional Doctrine on the Place of Indigenous Law Within the Common Law in Canada and Aotearea/New Zealand” 

• Gib van Ert, Olthuis Van Ert, “Legislative Implementation of UNDRIP: The Story so Far” 

• Robert Janes, JFK Law LLP, “The Implications of the Montour Decision” 

Proportionality & Justification 

• Room 361 

Moderator
 

• Steve Chaplin (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists

• Juha Tuovinen, Durham University, “Proportionality in the Case Law of the South African Constitutional Court” 

• Terry Skolnik, University of Ottawa, “Proportionality & State Wrongdoing” 

• Jennifer Raso, McGill University, “To Explain or to Justify? Computer Science and Public Law Approaches to Evaluating Algorithmic Decisions”  

12:30 pm – 1:15 pm 

• Atrium 

Lunch 

Parallel Panel Sessions (3)

Emergencies & National Security  

• Room 361 

• Anne Tardif (Gowling WLP) 

Panellists 

• Jeff King, University College London, “Emergency Powers, Pandemic Law-Making, and the Legislative Measures Approach: A Critical Global Overview”   

• Nusra Khan, Kapoor Barristers, “National Security Law-Making at the Center”

• Sarah Gagnon, University of Ottawa, “Democratic Decline and the Emergencies Act: What Does the Rouleau Commission’s Report Reveal about the Health of Democracy in Canada?” 

Constitutional Reform & Participatory Rights  

• Room 351 

Moderator  

• Errol Mendes (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Guillaume Rousseau, Université de Sherbrooke & Éloïse Désaulniers-Goulet, Université de Sherbrooke «Le devoir de préserver le caractère national de l’État et les droits de la personne en Israël et au Québec: historique, développements récents, comparaisons et perspectives d’avenir» 

• Seána Glennon, University of Ottawa, “Measuring the Influence of Minipublics in the Public Law System: An Empirical Study of the Impact of the Citizens’ Assembly on Constitutional and Legislative Reform in Ireland”  

• Ron Levy, Australian National University, “Should Secessionist Groups be Entitled to a Referendum?” 

Colonialism, Pluralism & State Institutions  

• Room 302 

Moderator  

• Kathryn Chan (University of Victoria) 

Panellists  

• Marc Loureiro, University of Leicester, “Recalibrating Citizenship: Making Sense of Subjective Public Rights, Coloniality and Race” 

• Erin Thomson-Leach & Louise Kyle, JFK Law LLP, “Decolonizing conservation: Re-imagining institutions through relationships and reconciliation” 

• Anurag Deb, Queen’s University Belfast, “Zombie Law: Reflections on Latent Ontological Anxieties in the Windsor Framework”  

2:45 pm – 4:15 pm 

Criministrative Public Law  

• Room 351 

• Terry Skolnik (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Yael Cohen-Rimer, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “Child Protection Law as Criministrative Law and the Need to View Poverty as Human Rights Violation” 

• Janina Boughey, University of New South Wales, “Administrative Justice in Public and Private Prisons”  

• Benjamin Berger, York University, “Jury Nullification, Pluralism, and the Structure of Public Law”  

Rights & Review 

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Paolo Sandro (University of Leeds) 

Panellists

• Emmett Macfarlane, University of Waterloo, “Rights Deliberations, Hate Speech, and the Commonwealth Model of Judicial Review”

• Megan Pfiffer, University of Toronto, “Toward a Rights-Based Theory of Substantive Review”

• Bruce Chen, Deakin Law School, “Australian Formalism and Reluctance: Reflections on 20 Years of State and Territory Human Rights Acts” 

Theoretical Approaches to Powers, Duties & Rights 

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Peter Oliver (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Jacob Weinrib, Queen’s University, “The Crises of Constitutional Rights Theory”  

• Joanne Murray, University of Ottawa, “The Power of Redress: Legal Subjects Quasi-Public Officials”  

• David Vitale, University of Warwick, “Trust and Legitimate Expectations” 

4:15 pm – 4:45 pm 

• Atrium 

Conway Baxter Wilson LLP Afternoon Coffee Break 

4:45 pm – 6:15 pm  

Plenary Panel Session – Administrative Law

• Room 147 

Moderator 

• Professor Geneviève Cartier (Université de Sherbrooke and Chair of the Research Council for the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference) 

Panellists  

• Justice Lorne Sossin (Court of Appeal for Ontario)  

• Professor David Dyzenhaus (University of Toronto) 

• Maggie Wente (Partner at Olthuis Kleer Townshend LLP) 

• The Honourable Audrey Boctor (Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec) 

Thursday, July 4th, 2024

7:45 am – 8:15 am 

8:15 am – 9:15 am 

Doctoral Panel Session (3) 

Who Gets to Decide: Courts, Communities, Officials?  

• Room 351 

• David Vitale (University of Warwick)  

Panellists 

• Capucine Colin, Université Toulouse Capitole, “The Role of Fourth-Branch institutions in Human Rights Protection: Insights from Canadian and Australian Experiences”  

• Wandile Zondo, University of Cape Town, “Public Participation in Land, Mineral and Other Natural Resources-Related Matters: Does the concept of Representative Democracy Trumps Participatory Democracy within Rural Communities in South Africa?”

• James Gaetani, Australian National University, “Engaging with Multiplicity: State Judicial Review Approaches to Indigenous legal orders in Australia and Canada”  

Minority Perspectives & Justice  

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Michael Pal (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Sonia Knowlton, Yale University, “Preserving Confidence in the Administration of Justice: An Unspoken Trade-off”  

• Natalia Morales-Cerda, University College London, “Political Representation in Crisis in Contemporary Constitutional Democracies: What Can We Learn From Women’s Experience?”  

• Sangh Rakshita, University of Oxford, “Combatting Algorithmic Discrimination using Anti-Discrimination Law”  

Testing the Boundaries of Law & Constitutionalism  

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Jason Varuhas (University of Melbourne)  

Panellists 

• Atagün Mert Kejanlıoğlu, McGill University, “State’s Duty to Protect International Human Rights Against the Constituent Power: A New Path for Constitutionalism?”

• Mathilde Ambrosi, Université de Bordeaux, “The Oath of Office in the United States of America: Real Duty or Simple Formality?”  

• Pravar Petkar, University of Edinburgh, “Territorial Division of Authority in the UK Constitution”  

9:15 am – 10:45 am 

Judicial Powers & Methods  

• Room 361 

Moderator  

• Mary Liston (University of British Colombia) 

Panellists 

• Jason Varuhas, University of Melbourne, “Judicial Method in Public Law”
   
• Edward Willis, University of Otago, “The Judicial Power (and Duty) to Review Administrative Expertise” 

• Matilda Gillis, University of Cambridge, “Using Dialogue Theory to Defend Rights” 

Legislating Rights & Amending Constitutions 

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Justice Colin Feasby (Court of King’s Bench of Alberta) 

Panellists 

• Marion Sandilands & Mohammed Elshafie, Conway Litigation, “Looking for Rights in all the Wrong Places” 

• Scott Stephenson, University of Melbourne, “'Uncertainty and Risk as an Argument against Constitutional Amendment'”  

Constitutional Interpretation & Interpreting Rights Instruments 

• Room 351 

Moderator 

• Caroline Guillemette (Department of Justice, Canada) 

Panellists 

• Vanessa MacDonnell, University of Ottawa, “Unwrittenness as a Salient Constitutional Category” 

• Andy Yu, University of Western Ontario, “Doré and Section 33 of the Charter”

• Preston Jordan Lim, Villanova University, “Interpreting Rights, Duties, and Powers: Vincent Macdonald and the Growth of Living Tree Constitutionalism” 

10:45 am – 11:00 am 

• Atrium 

 Morning Coffee Break 

11:00 am – 12:30 pm 

Plenary Panel Session – The Executive and Democracy

• Room 147 

Moderator 

• Shalene Curtis-Micallef (Deputy Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General of Canada) 

Panellists  

• Professor Timothy Endicott (University of Oxford) 

• Professor Janet McLean (University of Auckland) 

• Professor Julian Davis-Mortenson (University of Michigan) 

• Justice Michelle Gordon (High Court of Australia)  

• Room 147 

Introduction to The Law Commission of Canada 

• Kirk Shannon (Director General and Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Law Commission of Canada) 

12:30 pm – 1:15 pm 

• Atrium 

Lunch

1:15 pm – 2:45 pm  

Administrative Powers & Oversight 

• Room 351 

Moderator 

• Jean-Simon Schoenholz (Norton Rose Fulbright Canada) 

Panellists 

• Geneviève Cartier, Université de Sherbrooke, “Discretionary Decision-Making in Administrative Law – Between Power, Duty and Dialogue

• Eddie Clark, Victoria University of Wellington, “Rights, Remedies and Justiciability in Judicial Review”

• Robert Thomas, University of Manchester, “Administrative Law, Non-Judicial Systemic Scrutiny and Institutional Cultures” 

Environmental Constitutionalism & the Anthropocene: Powers, Duties or Rights? 

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Vanessa MacDonnell (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Sam Bookman, Harvard Law School, “Environmental Constitutionalism: Powers as Well as Rights!” 

• Stéphanie Roy, Université de Sherbrooke, « Les pouvoirs publics en matière environnementale au Québec et au Canada : vers une gouvernance décentralisée? »  

• Lael Weis, University of Melbourne, “Does Nature Need Rights?” 

Delegation & the Territorial Constitution 

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Robert Drummond (Department of Justice, Canada) 

Panellists 

• Adelyn Wilson, University of Aberdeen & Robert Taylor, University of Strathclyde, “Executive Law-Making and the Territorial Constitution: The Nature, Scope and Regulation of Delegated Legislation in the UK”

• Nick Kilford, Durham University, “The Contribution of Unwritten Principles to the UK’s Territorial Constitution” 

• Jessie Blackbourn, Durham University, “Implementing Statutory Duties: An Analysis of the Implementation by Local Authorities of the UK’s Prevent and Channel Duties” 

2:45 pm – 3:00 pm 

• Atrium
   

Afternoon Coffee Break 

3:00 pm – 4.30 pm 

Alternative Constitutional Constructions 

• Room 302 

Moderator   

• Gavin Phillipson (University of Bristol) 

Panellists 

• Jean-Christophe Bedard-Rubin, University of Toronto, “Constitutional Rights, Responsible Government, and the Judicial Construction of the Unity of the State”

• Kate Glover Berger, York University, “Structural Administrative Constitutionalism”

• Akis Psygkas, Western University, “The Pluralistic Constitution in Comparative Perspective”  

The Judicial Process 

• Room 351 

Moderator 

• Matthew Estabrooks (Gowling WLG)  

Panellists 

• Kathryn Chan, University of Victoria, “Organizational Litigants and the Representative Claim” 

• Alexandre Marcotte, Department of Justice, Canada, “The Role and Duties of the Attorney General as Constitutional Interlocutor” 

• Gerard Kennedy, University of Alberta, “Chief Justices’ Powers and Appellate Panels: Canadian Approach(es)” 

Bringing in ‘the People’ and Communities 

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Seána Glennon (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Paul Kildea, University of New South Wales, “Merely advisory or practically binding? The status of plebiscite results in Australia” 

• Abigail Miller, University for Peace, “In Opposition to Divide and Conquer: Mapping the Realization of Human Rights for the Indigenous Peoples of Canada” 

• Sarah Burton, University of Ottawa, “Schrödinger’s Citizen: A path to the democratically legitimate inclusion of non-resident citizens” 

4:30 pm – 6:00 pm 

New & Emerging Duties & Rights 

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Keshia West (Legal Reform Department, Jamaica) 

Panellists 

• Charles-Maxime Panaccio, University of Ottawa, “Wokes and Fascists… ‘Tis Hard to Passe Between the Points of Both Unwounded’: Discrimination, Substantive Equality and Constitutional Rights”

• Marika Giles-Samson, Court Challenges Program, “The Case for Access to Constitutional Justice in Canada as a Public Law Duty”  

Constitutional Values  

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Han-Ru Zhou (Université de Montréal) 

Panelists  

• Mary Liston, University of British Colombia, “A Revitalized Conception of the Canadian Separation of Powers Doctrine”  

• Alyssa Tomkins & Keith Brown, Gowling WLG, “Charter Values in Judicial Review"

• James Maurici KC, Landmark Chambers, “The Case for Fiduciary Duties in Public Law or when Public Law Duties are not Enough…”  

Digital Constitutionalism 

• Room 351 

Moderator 

• Alison Gray (Gowling WLG)  

Panellists 

• Sujit Choudhry, Haki Chambers, “Indirect Horizontal Effect, Constitutional Rights, and Social Media Platforms”  

• Peter Oliver & Céline Castets-Renard, University of Ottawa, “Public Law Perspectives on the Proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act: The Challenge of Agile Law-Making in a Fast-Moving Sector” 

• Gavin Phillipson, University of Bristol & Robert Simpson, University College London, “Tackling Extreme Speech on Social Media Platforms: A Normative Taxonomy of Regulatory Approaches”  

7:00 pm – 11:30 pm 

Gala Dinner at the Canadian Museum of History

• Welcome (Justice Andromache Karakatsanis, Supreme Court of Canada) 

• Performance & Fireside Chat with Jeremy Dutcher (moderated by Sara Mainville, JFK Law LLP) 

Friday, July 5th, 2024

9:00 am – 10:30 am 

• Room 147 

Moderator 

• Chief Justice Satiu Simativa Perese (Chief Justice of Samoa) 

Panelists  

• Justice Steven Majiedt (Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa) 

• Justice Christian Whata (High Court of New Zealand) 

• Professor Denis Baranger (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas) 

10:30 am – 10:45 am 

• Atrium 

Morning Coffee Break 

10:45 am – 12:15 am 

Privileges & Conventions  

• Room 302 

Moderator 

• Eoin Carolan (University College Dublin) 

Panellists 

• Conor Crummey, Maynooth University & George Letsas, University College London, “A Moral Theory of Constitutional Conventions”  

• Jelena Gligorijevic, Australian National University, “Parliamentary Privilege: Right, Duty or Power?” 

• Leonid Sirota, University of Reading, “What Can be Done to Counter the Decay of Constitutional Conventions?”  

Remedies & Ouster Clauses  

• Room 351 

Moderator 

• Joanne Murray (University of Ottawa) 

Panellists 

• Dean Knight, Victoria University of Wellington, “Declaratory Remedies in Judicial Review and the Prudential Exercise of Administrative Power”

• Robert Craig, University of Bristol, “’Third-generation’ ouster clauses: Anisminic, Privacy International and the Illegal Migration Act 2023”

• Paolo Sandro, University of Leeds, “Legally unlimited after all? Revaluating the scope of the legislative power of the UK Parliament in light of the ouster clauses saga” 

Influencing Public Law & Influences on Public Law 

• Room 361 

Moderator 

• Kate Glover Berger (York University) 

Panellists 

• Marie Padilla, Université de Bordeaux, “Public Law and Legal Scholars: What Powers, Duties, and Rights in the Construction of Public Law Knowledge?”  

• Errol Mendes, University of Ottawa, “The Supreme Court of Canada Triggers Internal and External Debate on the Rights, Duties and Powers of the Court Itself and its Ability to Extend the Reach of Public Law”  

• John Wilson, Gowling WLG, “Nelson v Marchi Three Years On: Some Lessons from Administrative Law”  

• Room 147 

Closing Remarks