The McGill Law Journal is a scholarly legal publication affiliated with the student body of the McGill University Faculty of Law

McGill University Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law is a constituent faculty of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec. Its graduates obtain both a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law , concurrently, in three to four years, allowing them to practice in both the Canadian, U.S...

 in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, published by a non-profit corporate institution independent of the Faculty run exclusively by students. It also publishes the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (also known as the McGill Guide

McGill Guide

The McGill Guide is the unofficial name for the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, which establishes the legal citation standard in Canada. It is published by the McGill Law Journal of the McGill University Faculty of Law and is used by law students and lawyers throughout Canada...

), Canada’s legal citation

Legal citation

Legal citation is the practice of crediting and referring to authoritative documents and sources. The most common sources of authority cited are court decisions , statutes, regulations, government documents, treaties, and scholarly writing....

 reference work

Reference work

A reference work is a compendium of information, usually of a specific type, compiled in a book for ease of reference. That is, the information is intended to be quickly found when needed. Reference works are usually referred to for particular pieces of information, rather than read beginning to end...

. The Journal was ranked as the best overall student-run law journal in the world outside of the United States in 2010 by the Washington and Lee University School of Law

Overview

Over the years the McGill Law Journal has garnered significant recognition in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and around the world. Since its first citations in the early 1970s, it has been cited more often than any other university-affiliated law journal in the world by the Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

. Subscribers to the Journal reside in over forty countries across six continents. In addition, the Journal actively contributes to the development of Canadian legal methodology by publishing the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, which has become the standard reference work for almost all Canadian law review

Law review

A law review is a scholarly journal focusing on legal issues, normally published by an organization of students at a law school or through a bar association...

s, Canadian law school

Law school

A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...

s, and courts. The McGill Law Journals citation style became the official style for Canadian legal citation by the Bluebook

Bluebook

The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, a style guide, prescribes the most widely used legal citation system in the United States. The Bluebook is compiled by the Harvard Law Review Association, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal....

, America's equivalent to the McGill Guide, before the first edition of the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation.

Students of the Faculty of Law of McGill University founded the McGill Law Journal in 1952, led by Founding Editor-in-Chief Jacques-Yvan Morin

Jacques-Yvan Morin

Jacques-Yvan Morin, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. Morin graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1953, where he was the founder of the McGill Law Journal...

. From that founding, the Journal has promoted the development of legal scholarship

Scholarship

A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...

 by appealing to an audience that includes professors of law, practicing lawyers, and law students. Given that the Province of Quebec is a jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area of responsibility...

 where the legal traditions of common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 and civil law

Civil law (legal system)

Civil law is a legal system inspired by Roman law and whose primary feature is that laws are codified into collections, as compared to common law systems that gives great precedential weight to common law on the principle that it is unfair to treat similar facts differently on different...

 intersect in matters of private law

Private law

Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...

, the first editors of the Journal immediately appreciated its potential as a catalyst for the development of civilian legal scholarship published in English. The Journal is recognized as an important forum for the critical analysis of contemporary legal issues in the realms of public law

Public law

Public law is a theory of law governing the relationship between individuals and the state. Under this theory, constitutional law, administrative law and criminal law are sub-divisions of public law...

 and private law

Private law

Private law is that part of a civil law legal system which is part of the jus commune that involves relationships between individuals, such as the law of contracts or torts, as it is called in the common law, and the law of obligations as it is called in civilian legal systems...

, as well as international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

.

The Journal is a bilingual publication. The editorial team includes both francophone

Francophone

The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....

 and anglophone

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 students tasked with the selection of articles and their preparation for publication. The Journal publishes a variety of articles pertaining to the civil and common law traditions in both of Canada's official languages. Part of its mandate is to contribute to the development of legal research

Legal research

Legal research is "the process of identifying and retrieving information necessary to support legal decision-making. In its broadest sense, legal research includes each step of a course of action that begins with an analysis of the facts of a problem and concludes with the application and...

 that is comparative or transsystemic

Transsystemic

Transsystemic is a term referring to the teaching of two legal traditions in an intertwined fashion. For example, at the McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal, Quebec, Quebec civil law and Canadian common law are taught at the same time in the same courses in a non-comparative manner...

 in nature.

Similar to its American counterparts and unlike many of its Canadian competitors, the McGill Law Journal is entirely student-run. In order to ensure the quality of its content, all manuscripts selected for publication are peer review

Peer review

Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...

ed by scholars from Canada and around the world using a double-blind system.

McGill Law Journal's Annual Lecture

Since 2000 (and from 1984-92), the McGill Law Journal has invited an important guest each year to provide a lecture to the legal community of McGill and Montreal at large. The lecture is published in the McGill Law Journal and is one of the most important events of the year at the Faculty. Previous lecturers have included Justice

Judge

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...

 of the Supreme Court of Canada Charles Gonthier

Charles Gonthier

Charles Doherty Gonthier, was a Puisne judge on the Supreme Court of Canada from February 1, 1989 to August 1, 2003. He was replaced by Morris Fish.-Early life:...

 (2000), Philippe Kirsch

Philippe Kirsch

Philippe Kirsch, OC, QC is a Canadian lawyer who served as a judge of the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2009 and was the court's first president....

, President of the International Criminal Court

International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...

 (2001), Canadian Senator Gérald A. Beaudoin (2003), Justice John Gomery

John Gomery

John H. Gomery, BCL, BA, QC is a retired Canadian jurist. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-Personal life:Gomery has a daughter, Cym Gomery, who is a partisan and candidate of municipal party Projet Montreal. Gomery is fluently bilingual, as is his daughter...

 (2006), Canadian philosopher John Ralston Saul

John Ralston Saul

John Ralston Saul, CC is a Canadian author, essayist, and President of International PEN.As an essayist, Saul is particularly known for his commentaries on the nature of individualism, citizenship and the public good; the failures of manager-, or more precisely technocrat-, led societies; the...

 (2009), Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada Rosalie Abella

Rosalie Abella

Rosalie Silberman Abella, is a Canadian jurist. She was appointed in 2004 to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench.- Early life :...

 (2010), and iconic Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes

Carlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...

 (2011). Before its current incarnation, previous lecturers included Jacques-Yvan Morin

Jacques-Yvan Morin

Jacques-Yvan Morin, was a politician in Quebec, Canada. Morin graduated from the McGill University Faculty of Law in 1953, where he was the founder of the McGill Law Journal...

 (1984) and future Chief Justice

Chief Justice

The Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Constitutional Court of South Africa, the Court of Final Appeal of...

 of the Supreme Court of Canada Beverley McLachlin

Beverley McLachlin

Beverley McLachlin, PC is the Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold this position. She also serves as a Deputy of the Governor General of Canada.-Early life:...

 (1991).

Justices

Allan Lutfy

Allan Lutfy

Allan Lutfy QC is the current Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada. He will be retiring from his post on September 30, 2011....

 - Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada

Federal Court of Canada

The Federal Court of Canada was a national court of Canada that heard some types of disputes arising under the central government's legislative jurisdiction...

Morris Fish

Morris Fish

Morris J. Fish, is a judge of the Supreme Court of Canada.Born in Montreal, Quebec, the son of Aaron S. Fish and Zlata Grober, he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1959 and a Bachelor of Law in 1962 from McGill University.He practiced law mostly in Quebec for the law firm Cohen, Leithman, Kaufman,...

 - Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada

John Gomery - Former Justice and head of the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, aka the Gomery Commission

A. Derek Guthrie - Former Justice of the Superior Court of Quebec

Nicholas Kasirer – Former Dean of McGill University Faculty of Law

McGill University Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law is a constituent faculty of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec. Its graduates obtain both a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law , concurrently, in three to four years, allowing them to practice in both the Canadian, U.S...

, now Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal

Quebec Court of Appeal

The Court of Appeal for Quebec is the highest judicial court in Quebec, Canada....

Academics

Stephen Toope

Stephen Toope

Stephen J. Toope, is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He assumed the presidential post on July 1, 2006 for a term of five years...

 - Former Dean

Dean (education)

In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...

 of McGill University Faculty of Law

McGill University Faculty of Law

The Faculty of Law is a constituent faculty of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec. Its graduates obtain both a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Civil Law , concurrently, in three to four years, allowing them to practice in both the Canadian, U.S...

, now President of the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

 

David Lametti - Former Associate Dean of Academics, McGill University Faculty of Law

Geneviève Saumier - Former Associate Dean of Academics, McGill University Faculty of Law

Mayo Moran

Mayo Moran

Mayo Moran , a native of the Canadian province of British Columbia and daughter of author Bridget Moran and Pat Moran, has been Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto since January 1, 2006, the first ever female dean of the Faculty of Law. She replaced former dean Ronald J...

 - Dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law

University of Toronto Faculty of Law

Established in 1887, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law is one of the oldest professional faculties at the University of Toronto. The Faculty of Law is particularly renowned in the areas of corporate law, international law, law and economics, and legal theory.The law school has been...

Julia E Hanigsberg - Vice President Administration and Finance of Ryerson University

Ryerson University

Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

Frank H. Buckley

Frank H. Buckley

Frank H. Buckley is a Foundation Professor at George Mason University School of Law, where he has taught since 1989. Before then, he was a visiting Olin Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. He has also taught at McGill Law School in Montreal; and the Sorbonne , and Sciences Po in Paris....

 - Professor of Law, George Mason University

George Mason University

George Mason University is a public university based in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, south of and adjacent to the city of Fairfax. Additional campuses are located nearby in Arlington County, Prince William County, and Loudoun County...

Stephen Allan Scott - Professor-Emeritus

Emeritus

Emeritus is a post-positive adjective that is used to designate a retired professor, bishop, or other professional or as a title. The female equivalent emerita is also sometimes used.-History:...

, McGill University Faculty of Law

Peter Oliver - Professor, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

Cally Jordan - Associate Professor, The University of Melbourne Faculty of Law

Elo Tulving-Blais - Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Canadian International Lawyer

Michelle Cumyn - Rédactrice en chef of the Les Cahiers de Droit

Businesspeople

David O'Brien - Chairman of the Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada

The Royal Bank of Canada or RBC Financial Group is the largest financial institution in Canada, as measured by deposits, revenues, and market capitalization. The bank serves seventeen million clients and has 80,100 employees worldwide. The company corporate headquarters are located in Toronto,...

 

Robert Leclerc - Chairman, Minefinders Corporation

Douglas Pascal - Vice-Chairman of Canderel

Practitioners

Roy Heenan

Roy Heenan

Roy Lacaud Heenan, OC is a Canadian labour lawyer and academic. He is the founding partner of the Canadian law firm Heenan Blaikie....

 - Founding Partner of Heenan Blaikie

Heenan Blaikie

Heenan Blaikie LLP is a full service Canadian law firm. It practices in the areas of business, labour and employment, litigation, taxation, entertainment law and intellectual property law. The firm was founded in 1973 by Roy Heenan, Donald Johnston, and Peter Blaikie...

Daniel Gogek - Former Managing Partner of Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells

Hogan Lovells is an international law firm co-headquartered in London, United Kingdom and Washington, D.C., United States. It was formed on May 1, 2010 following the merger of Washington-based Hogan & Hartson and London-based Lovells. The two firms' agreement to merge was announced on 15 December...

 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

Daniel Torsher - Managing Partner of Kinstellar SCA in Bucharest

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....

, Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

Government

W. David Angus - Canadian Senator

Elaine Feldman - President of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency

Yoine Goldstein

Yoine Goldstein

Yoine J. Goldstein is a Canadian Jewish lawyer, academic, and former Senator.Born in Montreal, Quebec, his education includes a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University in 1955, a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University in 1958, and a Doctor of Laws from the Université de Lyon in 1960. He...

 - Former Canadian Senator

Ronald I. Cohen - National Chair, Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

Canadian Broadcast Standards Council

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is an independent, non-governmental organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its members, Canada's private broadcasters....

International figures

Dick Pound

Dick Pound

Richard William Duncan Pound, is a Canadian lawyer, partner of the law firm Stikeman Elliott, the former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency based in Montreal, and former chancellor of McGill University...

 – Former Chancellor of McGill University

McGill University

Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

, former Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency

World Anti-Doping Agency

The World Anti-Doping Agency , , is an independent foundation created through a collective initiative led by the International Olympic Committee . It was set up on November 10, 1999 in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a result of what was called the "Declaration of Lausanne", to promote, coordinate and...

, Senior Tax Partner at Stikeman Elliott

Stikeman Elliott

Stikeman Elliott LLP is a Canadian corporate law firm. It is known as one of the "seven sisters" in Toronto and has approximately 500 lawyers in five Canadian offices as well as offices in New York, London , and Sydney. It was founded in 1952 by H...

 

Editors-in-chief

Vol 1: Jacques-Yvan Morin (Issue One), Fred Kaufman (Issues Two and Three), and William H. Reynolds (Issue Four)

Vol 2: John E. Lawrence

Vol 3: Harold W. Ashenmil

Vol 4: Raymond Barakett

Vol 5: Henri P. Lafleur

Vol 6: A. Derek Guthrie

Vol 7: Norman M. May

Vol 8: Alan Z. Golden

Vol 9: Mark M. Rosenstein

Vol 10: Joseph J. Olivier

Vol 11: Larry S. Sazant

Vol 12: Stephen Allan Scott

Vol 13: Douglas Pascal

Vol 14: Ronald I. Cohen

Vol 15: Leonard Serafini

Vol 16: André T. Mécs

Vol 17: Joel King

Vol 18: Michael David Kaylor

Vol 19: Graham Nevin

Vol 20: F.H. Buckley

Vol 21: Laura Falk Scott

Vol 22: Louise Pelly

Vol 23: Cally Jordan

Vol 24: Neil J. Smitheman

Vol 25: Mona R. Paul

Vol 26: Linda R. Ganong (1979–1980) and Patrick Healy (1980–1981)

Vol 27: F. Jasper Meyers

Vol 28: Stephen Toope

Stephen Toope

Stephen J. Toope, is the President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of British Columbia. He assumed the presidential post on July 1, 2006 for a term of five years...

Vol 29: Daniel Gogek

Vol 30: Peter Oliver

Vol 31: Henry K. Schultz

Vol 32: Marc Lemieux

Vol 33: M. Kevin Woodall

Vol 34: Gary F. Bell

Vol 35: Daniel Torsher

Vol 36: Julia E. Hanigsberg

Vol 37: David A. Chemla

Vol 38: Mark Phillips

Vol 39: Erica Stone

Vol 40: Jodi Lackman

Vol 41: Mary-Pat Cormier

Vol 42: Martin J. Valasek

Vol 43: Sébastien Beaulieu

Vol 44: Karlo Giannascoli

Vol 45: Azim Hussain

Vol 46: Robert Leckey

Vol 47: Kevin MacLeod

Vol 48: Carole Chan

Vol 49: Toby Moneit

Vol 50: Fabien Fourmanoit

Vol 51: Kristin Ali

Vol 52: David Sandomierski

Vol 53: Benjamin Moss

Vol 54: Erin Morgan

Vol 55: Seo Yun Yang

Vol 56: Sara Ross

Vol 57: Will Colish