University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review

University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
Title	University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review
Discipline	Law
Abbreviation	U of T FLR
Publisher	University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Country	Canada
History	1940s–present
Frequency	Annual

University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review The University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review is a student-run legal journal associated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, publishing scholarly commentary, case notes, and book reviews on Canadian and comparative law. The Review has served as a forum for debate among jurists, judges, academics, and practitioners and has intersected with issues addressed by institutions such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Department of Justice, and the Privy Council. Its pages have engaged with constitutional developments like the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, international instruments such as the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and influential cases including R v Oakes, Ford v Quebec (Attorney General), and Reference re Secession of Quebec.

History

The Review traces roots to mid-20th-century student initiatives at the University of Toronto, parallel to developments at Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Oxford University, and Cambridge University. Early issues responded to postwar legal reconstruction alongside institutions such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, NATO, and the International Court of Justice, and reflected Canadian milestones involving the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Constitution Act, 1867, and the Constitution Act, 1982. Contributors and editors engaged with jurists and scholars associated with McGill University, Queen's University, Osgoode Hall Law School, Dalhousie Law School, and the University of British Columbia, while referencing decision-makers like Bora Laskin, Gérald Fauteux, and Patrick Kerwin. Over decades the Review published symposiums on topics resonant with events such as the Charlottetown Accord, the Meech Lake Accord, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Rome Statute.

Organization and Governance

The Review is governed by an editorial board drawn from students at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, with oversight and support from the Faculty, alumni such as Bora Laskin associates, and advisory input from scholars affiliated with the Peter A. Allard School of Law, the Faculty of Law at McGill, and international centers like the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law. Governance structures mirror models used at the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, and the Michigan Law Review, and include roles such as Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, Articles Editors, and Notes Editors. Selection processes intersect with institutions like the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of Ontario, the International Bar Association, and regional legal clinics. The Review maintains relationships with libraries including Robarts Library, Bodleian Library, Library and Archives Canada, and the Library of Congress for archival exchange.

Publication and Editorial Process

Submissions come from scholars and practitioners associated with institutions such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Federal Court of Canada, the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and university faculties like Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Stanford Law School, and the University of Cambridge. The editorial process uses citation standards influenced by The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation and practices seen at the Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and the University of Toronto Press. Articles undergo selection and editing stages analogous to procedures at the Modern Language Association, the American Political Science Association, and the American Bar Association publishing outlets; peer engagement often involves scholars from the London School of Economics, the University of Chicago, New York University School of Law, and sciences of institutions like the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The Review includes case notes on decisions such as R v Morgentaler, R v Gladue, Carter v Canada (Attorney General), and Reference re Same-Sex Marriage.

Notable Articles and Contributors

The Review has published pieces by or about figures associated with the Supreme Court of Canada justices such as Beverley McLachlin, William Ian Corneil Binnie, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, and Marshall Rothstein; academics linked to John Locke, H. L. A. Hart, Ronald Dworkin, John Rawls, and Lon L. Fuller; and practitioners from firms like Blake, Cassels & Graydon, Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, Bennett Jones, and Torys LLP. Noteworthy contributions have engaged scholarship by scholars from the University of Toronto, McGill University, the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Chicago, and have discussed landmark matters involving the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Canadian Constitution Foundation, and the Criminal Lawyers' Association. The Review has featured symposia on topics touching on the Charter jurisprudence in R v Oakes, Indigenous law themes related to Calder v British Columbia, Haida Nation v British Columbia (Minister of Forests), Delgamuukw v British Columbia, and Tsilhqot'in Nation v British Columbia, as well as administrative law debates concerning Dunsmuir v New Brunswick and Baker v Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration).

Awards and Recognition

The Review and its contributors have received recognition from organizations such as the Canadian Bar Association, the Law Society of Upper Canada, the American Society of International Law, the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, and the Royal Society of Canada. Individual articles and notes have been cited in judgments by the Supreme Court of Canada, provincial courts like the Court of Appeal for Ontario, federal tribunals, and international bodies including the European Court of Human Rights and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Awards and prizes related to student writing and scholarship include distinctions comparable to the Duff-Rinfret Prize, the Harvard/Lumley Prize, and faculty-based essay awards at institutions like McGill, Queen's, and Osgoode Hall.

Impact and Influence on Canadian Legal Scholarship

The Review has influenced doctrinal development and interdisciplinary dialogues in areas connected to the Charter, Indigenous rights, administrative law, criminal law, international law, and trade law, intersecting with debates driven by cases such as R v Singh, R v Parker, Reference re Same-Sex Marriage, and Canada (Attorney General) v PHS Community Services Society. Its articles have informed policy discussions involving bodies like the Department of Justice Canada, the Privy Council Office, the Law Reform Commission of Canada, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and commissions such as the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Through citations and engagement, the Review has shaped scholarship alongside journals like the Osgoode Hall Law Journal, the Dalhousie Law Journal, the McGill Law Journal, the Alberta Law Review, and international reviews such as the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal.

Category:Canadian law journals