Law and Disability in Canada: An overview of law and disability issues in Canada
The next CALL/ACBD webinar will be presented by David Ireland (Associate Professor and Director of Clinics for the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba) and Dr. Richard Jochelson (Dean of Law for the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba).
This webinar will explore the ways in which persons with disabilities interact with the law in Canada. This will be done through an examination of barriers regularly faced by people with disabilities and how these are interpreted in foundational domestic and international equality rights instruments (including the Charter, human rights law, and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ). The authors will also provide a brief history of disability rights litigation in Canada and discuss several contemporary access to justice issues currently facing people with disabilities.
Speaker Biography – David Ireland
Professor David Ireland was called to the Manitoba Bar in 2011. A graduate of Robson Hall, his legal practice in criminal law has included both defence and prosecution work. Professor Ireland has also been involved in public interest legal work concerning inquests, public inquiries and human rights. In 2016 Professor Ireland was appointed to the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba where he teaches criminal law and procedure, evidence law and advocacy. His research program centers on improving the delivery of criminal justice in Canada. His work interrogates the complexities of state/citizen interactions and aims to lead positive policy change to improve equality and fairness in the criminal justice process.
Speaker Biography – Freya Kodar
Professor Freya Kodar has been a faculty member at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law since 2012. She also holds an LLB from UVic and an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School. From 2016 to 2021, Prof. Kodar served as Associate Dean, Administration and Research at the University of Victoria and previously practiced at two legal aid clinics in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. Her research and writing focuses on pension law, and the regulation of debit and credit and her work has been published in a number of legal and interdisciplinary journals such as the Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Atlantis: Critical Studies in Gender, Culture & Social Justice, and the Dalhousie Law Journal.
Speaker Biography – Dr. Laverne Jacobs
Dr. Laverne Jacobs joined the University of Windsor’s Faculty of Law in 2007. She is a recognized legal scholar whose research interests include human rights law; disability rights; equality; administrative law; comparative administrative law; and qualitative empirical research methodology. Her work has been cited by law reform agencies and by courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Dr. Jacobs is also the founder and directs The Law, Disability and Social Change Project, a research and public advocacy initiative housed at Windsor Law that works to foster and develop inclusive communities. In June 2021, Dr. Jacobs was nominated for election to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Speaker Biography – Dr. Richard Jochelson
Dr. Richard Jochelson is the Dean of Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, a Master of Laws from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Calgary Faculty of Law (Gold Medal), and a Bachelor of Science in Zoology, also from the University of Calgary. He taught criminal law for 10 years at the University of Winnipeg prior to joining the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law. As a research, Dr. Jochelson has disseminated over 70 publications. His areas of research include Charter issues in criminal law, sexual expression, criminal law and procedure, and conduct and work in Canada.