OJEN’s Educator Support Department has been hard at work creating new teaching materials for law teachers. Four new resources have recently been posted on our website.
Top Five Cases of 2018
A highlight of the Toronto Summer Law Institute each year, is a presentation by a judge about five significant cases that have recently appeared before the Court of Appeal for Ontario. The judge explains what makes the cases interesting from an educational perspective, offering his insight and observations. Each year OJEN produces a teaching resource based on these Top Five Cases. It consists of a case summary, background information on the issues, the decision and reasons for the decision, and suggested discussion questions for the class.
The Top Five Cases of 2018 have recently been posted on the OJEN website. They include:
- Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University
- Rankin (Rankin’s Garage and Sales) v J.J.
- Groia v Law Society of Upper Canada
- Williams Lake Indian Band v Canada
- R. v Bingley
Top Five cases are relevant to Constitutional and Charter Law and a variety of other grade 11 and 12 law topics.
Jury Duty in Ontario and Mock Jury Selection
One of the most exciting new resources now available on our website is Jury Duty in Ontario and Mock Jury Selection. It introduces students to the jury selection process in Ontario, including how the jury roll is formed, how jurors are summoned, and how they are selected in criminal and civil trials.
It examines the issue of the underrepresentation of First Nations and other minorities on juries as a critical human rights issue affecting the Canadian justice system. The teacher guide includes teaching strategies, discussion questions, classroom activities and links to additional resources
The Mock Jury Selection exercise is designed to help students understand the process of establishing an impartial jury. The simulation will assess jury selection in hypothetical scenarios. When incorporated into a lesson, this task will simulate the entire process of jury selection. The re-enactment of this task requires students to play the role of lawyers, a judge, a registrar, prospective jurors, and the accused.
Steps to Justice: Employment Law
OJEN is collaborating with our strategic partner, Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) to create a series of workshops based on their excellent Steps to Justice website. Steps to Justice provides legal information and clear steps Ontarians can take when they are faced with some of the most commonly-experienced legal problems.
Employment Law is the first of a series of modules that animate the information found on the website for school and community audiences. Using hypothetical scenarios, students explore legal questions by navigating the practical step-by-step information on the website. They learn how to use the website to find forms, self-help guides and referral information that can be used in working through actual legal problems.
Steps to Justice: Criminal Law
“Can the police stop me on the street and ask for my ID?”
“Should I sign a peace bond to deal with my criminal case?”
“What can happen if I miss my court date?”
These are a few of the questions posed in the Steps to Justice – Criminal Law resource.
The Steps to Justice Criminal Law Module, as with the Employment Law module, comes with PowerPoint classroom presentation, student work sheets, six different employment law scenarios and a facilitator’s guide and answer sheet. The guide provides detailed instructions on how to deliver the workshop. Additional information with tips and information for presenters, can be found on a short training video available on the OJEN website.
Look for additional Steps to Justice modules on Family Law, Housing Law, and more.