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Legal fictions, like “corporate personhood” or “constructive possession,” are often seen as ethically suspect because of the way they distort the reality that law operates on.

• Do legal fictions differ from other legal devices such as presumptions, hypotheses, and “deeming” provisions?
• Or do they merely illustrate a pattern that is typical of legal thinking more generally?
• What’s a legal fiction anyway?

Presenter:
Simon Stern, Associate Professor of Law and English & Co-Director, Centre for Innovation Law & Policy, University of Toronto

Free and open to the public.

A year later, the trial and acquittal of Jian Ghomeshi in March 2016 continues to stir controversy about the Canadian criminal justice system’s handling of sexual assault cases. The question which ethical norms should govern defence counsel in these cases is among the many still contentious issues, as evidenced by the recent controversy surrounding an invitation extended to Ghomeshi’s defence lawyer, Marie Henein, to give a university lecture.

This Centre for Ethics event aims to stimulate thoughtful public debate about the important and complex ethical issues raised by sexual assault cases in the criminal process, including not only the role of defence attorneys, but also that of other systems participants, notably prosecutors and judges.

Free! This event was originally scheduled for February 13, 2017. 

Participants:

Elaine Craig, Associate Professor, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, Author of “The Ethical Obligations of Defence Counsel in Sexual Assault Cases” (2014) & “The Ethical Identity of Sexual Assault Lawyers” (2016)

Alison Craig, Partner, Lockyer Campbell Posner, Toronto (Discussant)

For Ontario lawyers, this program contains 1 hr 50 min Professionalism Hour(s).
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