Moot problem based on the CJC’s decision not to sanction Justice Spiro
The Julius Alexander Isaac Moot topic was announced on November 12. This year’s topic will cover the extant judicial review of the Canadian Judicial Council’s (CJC) decision not to sanction Justice David Spiro after his intervention in the Faculty of Law’s hiring of Dr. Valentina Azarova as director of the International Human Rights Program due to her scholarship “examining the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.”
Since 2008, the Black Law Students’ Association of Canada has held annual competitive moots designed to focus on issues of diversity and equity in different areas of law. Mooters will not only be preparing an argument based in doctrine (e.g., jurisprudence and statutes), but will also be tackling an argument based in theory. For their theoretical arguments, competitors are asked to engage with critical race scholarship, and will be scrutinized based on their insights about race and law within the context of furthering their side’s position. At the end of the materials given out to competitors, Lincoln Alexander School of Law Professor Joshua Sealy-Harrington notes that while the structure of this moot may cause participants some discomfort, it is necessary to engage with critical theoretical thought and creativity to develop deeper insights into racial hierarchy and advance Canada’s racial discourse in law.
