The Queen’s Law Journal celebrated its latest publication with its first-ever issue launch on January 22. A student-run editorial board supervised by two professors produces the scholarly journal, and this Fall 2017 issue also includes contributions by alumni.
“The Queen's Law Journal has long had the reputation of being one of the finest law journals in Canada,” says Professor Grégoire Webber. He and Professor Jean Thomas are the joint faculty advisers who support the board by reviewing recommendations and helping to set the QLJ’s overall strategy. “Our vision for the Journal has been to build on those solid foundations and to seek to make the QLJ the very best Canadian law journal.”
Two of the eight articles are by members of the Queen’s Law community. The new issue includes a review of John Borrows’ Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism by Professor Mark Walters, Law’89. Walters was also a professor in the Faculty of Law from 1999 until 2016, when he took up his current post as the F.R. Scott Professor of Public and Constitutional Law at McGill.
Alexandra Hebert, Law’16, law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown, examines the inconsistent approach to pre-sentencing reports for Indigenous offenders, known as Gladue reports after a landmark Supreme Court case. She argues for a statutory requirement making these reports available to all Indigenous offenders.
“Patrick Hart, Law’06, reviews the Canadian jurisprudence on the justiciability of religious disputes in anticipation of the Supreme Court of Canada’s upcoming decision in Wall v Judicial Committee of the Highwood Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses. He argues that this jurisprudence has often been misinterpreted and proposes a new test for judicial intervention in such disputes. Hart is an associate with Jackie Handerek & Forester in Leduc, Alberta.
Other articles in the multidisciplinary issue include scholarship on constitutional issues of religious freedom, self-defence laws and the royal succession.
Dean Bill Flanagan congratulated the QLJ team on their latest issue. He described the Journal as a “fantastic opportunity for a law student” to learn more about the research and writing faculty members do outside of the classroom.
“The editorial board has quite a lot of responsibility,” Webber explained at the launch. Student panels internally review all submissions and decide whether to accept the article for publication. It’s a model inspired by the major law journals in the United States, and made possible by student dedication. “We trust your judgement,” Webber said, “and that’s because you exercise it so responsibly.”
Isabelle Crew and Graham Bevans, both Law’18, are the editors-in-chief for 2017–18. They thanked the faculty, administration, Lederman Library staff and the broader Queen’s Law community for their support. “We take tremendous pride in putting out an academic publication and contributing to the world of legal scholarship,” said Crew.
Both editors-in-chief thanked the 22 upper-year board members and the 35 first-year volunteer editors for their hard work and dedication. Highlighting the teamwork behind the printed page, Bevans explained that “each issue of the Queen's Law Journal represents a lot of time, commitment and effort on the part of everyone involved and it just would not be possible to produce such a publication without those contributions.”
The Journal is just one of the ways Queen’s Law offers experiential learning to students in all years. First-year volunteer editors learn about legal research and the details of legal citation within weeks of coming to law school. Second- and third-year students may apply to take on additional responsibilities on the editorial board for course credit. Students manage all aspects of the editorial process. Students review submissions, check citations, proofread draft articles, write abstracts and manage all aspects of layout and production.
“All of the members of the QLJ Board and our volunteer editors do this work because they value not only the opportunity to contribute to legal academia, but to advance their own skills and work as part of a team of passionate, dedicated people,” said Crew.
The Queen’s Law Journal is a peer-reviewed legal publication with an international audience. Since 1971, it has published research, analysis, topical commentary, and reviews by scholars and practitioners from across Canada and around the world. Issues appear twice a year, in late fall and in the spring. Visit the QLJ website to subscribe.
By Alexander McPherson