Law Times

Page 2 February 26, 2018 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com able is not there for them [so] they end up studying abroad," says Anver Saloojee, the dean of record for the university's pro- posed law school. Saloojee says the Ryerson law school would capture some of that market and will better po- sition those graduates to be an important part of the legal ser- vice delivery in Ontario. He adds that lawyers should not be scared of the competition that will come from the new law school's graduates. "As in every other profession, graduates will compete with each other and hopefully the best and the brightest will actu- ally get what they are looking for and seeking," he says. Saloojee says there is also a need for another law school in Ontario "of a different kind" with an emphasized focus on innovation and technology. Pending the necessary ap- provals, Saloojee says, he ex- pects the school will open its doors in September 2020. The first cohort is expected to be 150 students and annual tuition will be $20,000 depend- ing on whether the university obtains funding it hopes to re- ceive from the provincial gov- ernment. When the FLSC granted pre- liminary approval of the new law school, it identified three concerns with the proposed program, which included a con- cern that the law school would need consistent funding from the provincial government to be sustainable. Ryerson responded to this by saying that if provincial funds are not available, it will have to increase the $20,000 fee. Other concerns questioned whether the law school would have adequate physical resourc- es and the fact that the proposal did not have a target student-to- faculty ratio. Ryerson's proposal was ap- proved at Convocation by a show of hands with at least two benchers voting against — Raj Sharda and Jeffrey Lem — after some discussion. The law so- ciety does not keep an official tally for votes when there is no roll call. Life bencher Bradley Wright, who does not have a vote at Convocation, voiced concern about creating a new law school at a time when the number of students is increasing at a rate far above the population growth of the province. "The reality is that if you have too few lawyers per capita that's bad for society [and] if you have too many lawyers per capita that's also bad for society," he said. He said many young law- yers are having a hard enough time making it into law. Others said there was no meritorious reason to stand in the way of the new law school. Bencher Christopher Bredt said the law society does not exist to regulate the number of people in the profession but to ensure that the people who are licensed to practise are compe- tent in the areas in which they are licensed. He said there is demand among Canadians who want to go to law school in Toronto and that the proposal is a sound one. He also pointed to the fact that many Canadians are go- ing abroad to go to law school at considerable expense and with- out good results. "Putting in place a Canadian law school that will give Ca- nadians an opportunity to get a high-quality legal education here in Canada to me makes eminent sense," he says. The proposed law school still needs more internal Ryerson approvals, which Saloojee ex- pects will be obtained by mid- summer. At that point, Ryerson will be sending the proposal to the provincial government, which also has to grant its ap- proval. LT Continued from page 1 'Let's deal with the articling situation first' of a five-year waiting period to apply for a record suspension for a summary offence conviction). Previously, only individuals with a conviction for an indict- able offence were excluded from jury eligibility. Nearly every of- fence in the Criminal Code is now hybrid, including very mi- nor crimes. The narrowing of who is eligible to become a juror was enacted in 2009 just months after it was revealed that police in many jurisdictions in On- tario had been running secret background checks on poten- tial jurors for the benefit of the Crown. The provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner launched an investigation and brought an end to the practice. The province should recon- sider the legislative changes it made that restrict who can serve on a jury, says Smith. A previous conviction for a minor offence "should not ren- der someone ineligible for jury duty. In fact, it might make the person a better juror," he says. That view is echoed by vet- eran Toronto defence lawyer David Bayliss. "You are entitled to a jury of your peers. That includes people who have had problems when they were young," he adds. The eligibility rules impact disproportionately on individu- als who grew up in neighbour- hoods that are not aff luent, sug- gests Bayliss. "Someone who is caught shoplifting when they are 19 should not be disqualified. That would be very unfair," he says. The restriction was noted by former Supreme Court of Can- ada Justice Frank Iacobucci in his 2013 report commissioned by the province to examine the lack of First Nations representa- tion on juries. Among his recommenda- tions were that any individual convicted of certain minor of- fences be permitted to serve on juries after a certain amount of time had passed since their con- viction. Jury rolls in Ontario are gen- erated by the Municipal Prop- erty Assessment Corporation, based on voter lists that are up- dated every four years. The Iacobucci report also highlighted the fact that seven other provinces use health card lists to generate more expansive lists of people who are eligible to serve as jurors. To date, the province has not acted on these suggestions in the Iacobucci report. On the issue of peremptory challenges, which is within the jurisdiction of the federal government, the Criminal Code permits a mini- mum of four or a maximum of 20 challenges for both the Crown and defence, depending on the offence. No reason is required to ex- ercise these challenges. If the federal government were to eliminate this right, it would be unfair to defendants and disproportionately impact criminal accused from indig- enous and other minority com- munities, say both defence law- yers. Unless there is a challenge for cause question, "there is no other direct participation in the jury selection for the defen- dant," says Bayliss. "It is an important tool to get a fair and reasonable jury. You are going up against the power and resources of the state," says Smith. The leading case in Ontario on peremptory challenges is still a 2001 decision by the Court of Appeal that explained that this right "fosters confidence" in the jury selection process. As well, it is only the prosecu- tion that has a duty not to use the challenges improperly, be- cause of the quasi-judicial role of the Crown. "It is my view that public con- fidence in the administration of justice would be seriously undermined if Crown counsel were permitted to exercise the power of peremptory challenge on racial or ethnic grounds," wrote Justice Robert Sharpe in R. v. Gayle. The Ministry of the Attor- ney General did not respond to questions about possible chang- es to broader jury eligibility and the database used to create jury rolls by press time. LT Calls for change over jury selection process Continued from page 1 NEWS In 29 thought-provoking articles, practitioners, academics, and the judiciary weigh in on the most vital debates, theorize on future implications of current rules and trends, and scrutinize the practical implications of recent proceedings and challenges. 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