Osgoode Society one of 20 recipients of LFO Catalyst grants!

Thank you so much to the Law Foundation of Ontario for awarding a three-year Catalyst grant to the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History! The core funding we receive will go to support our work recording oral histories, and scholarly research and publishing by graduate students, historians, lawyers, judges, and other scholars interested in the legal past(s) of our country.

It is an honour to be selected, and particularly so in the company of such admirable and inspiring organizations.

The Law Foundation has helped fund our work for a number of years, and we are delighted that they continue to recognize the Osgoode Society's contribution to the critical understanding of law as a profound force in our society, one which is complicated, always changing and contested, and which should never be assumed or taken for granted. We are grateful that the Foundation appreciates the importance of history in fostering a commitment to access to justice. Thank you again, LFO!

Cavanagh, "The Imperial Constitution of the Law Officers of the Crown: Legal Thought on War and Colonial Government, 1719–1774"

Edward Cavanagh has published  "The Imperial Constitution of the Law Officers of the Crown: Legal Thought on War and Colonial Government, 1719–1774" in the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History;

Abstract:
The rule of conquest came to receive different applications for different parts of the British Empire. How this happened, and who was responsible for it happening, are the interests of this article. Calling upon court reports, parliamentary records, and correspondence between various officeholders in the early Hanoverian government, attention will be drawn in particular to the attorney general and the solicitor general (the law officers of the crown) and the advice they offered upon the governance of colonies between 1719 and 1774. Focusing upon the conventions that pertain to war and conquest in Ireland, the Caribbean, India, and North America, this article reveals inconsistency in doctrine, but consistency in the procedures by which law officers of the crown acquired influence over proceedings in the houses of parliament and in the courts of common law and equity. Just as often in their formal capacities as in their informal capacities, the attorney general and the solicitor general were pivotal to the development of the imperial constitution, in constant response, as they were, to the peculiar demands of various colonies and plantations in the British Empire.

CFP: Second Postgraduate Conference in Comparative Legal History, 27–29 June 2019, Augsburg University, Germany

Second Postgraduate Conference in Comparative Legal History 27–29 June 2019, Augsburg University, Germany 

Call for Papers

The European Society for Comparative Legal History (ESCLH) is pleased to announce its Second Postgraduate Conference. The ESCLH invites PhD-students (beyond their first year) and post-doctoral-researchers who work in the field of comparative legal history to participate in the conference. The conference will be held from 27 to 29 June 2019 at Augsburg University, Germany.

The ESCHL wants to overcome the narrow nationalism and geographical segregation of legal history in contemporary European scholarship and professional organisations. The society, thus, aims to promote comparative legal history, the explicit comparison of legal ideas and institutions in two or more legal traditions.

The Second Postgraduate Conference of the ESCLH will give advanced PhD-students and post-doc- toral-researchers the opportunity to present their research in the field of comparative legal history to a panel of six leading experts. Furthermore, the conference will give all participants the opportunity to build academic networks. The experts on the panel cover a broad range of subjects: Ulrike Babusiaux (Zürich), Mia Korpiola (Turku), Annamaria Monti (Milano), Wim Decock (Leuven), Matthew Dyson (Oxford), and Aniceto Masferrer (Valencia).

The ESCLH invites advanced doctoral candidates and post-doctoral researchers to submit abstracts for presentation. The abstract should be of no more than 300 words and give the title of your research project, your field of research, and your personal data (full name, email address, affiliated university, CV) to:

phillip.hellwege@jura.uni-augsburg.de

The conference language is English and abstracts must be submitted in English. The closing date for receipt of abstracts is 15 January 2019. 12 applicants will be selected and invited to participate in the conference. Successful applicants will be informed by 15 February 2019.

Participants are expected to cover their own travel expenses. Accommodation and catering will be provided without charge.

Barrington Walker on Jim Crow in Canada: a few places available!

Amanda Campbell of the Osgoode Society advises me that although this evening's legal history session is well subscribed, we can squeeze a few more chairs in. Email or call her (416) 947-3321
amanda@osgoodesociety.ca.

Here's the notice:

Please note the lecture will take place at 5:30 at Osgoode Hall in the Museum Room. Refreshments will be available. Thank you and we look forward to seeing you. LEGAL HISTORY LECTURE Re-Visiting Jim Crow in Canada: Reflections on the Law and the Black Experience * On October 29, 2018, Professor Barrington Walker of the History Department at Queen's University will speak about the Black experience with law in Canadian history, and what it means for the present and the future. Although Canadian law did not engage in the kind of formalised legal discrimination as the American south, Professor Walker will discuss how Canadian law did little to turn formal legal equality into substantive equality, and allowed opportunities for unequal treatment. For example, from 1858 through the 1960s, Ontario law permitted school boards to create separate schools if local residents asked for them. Professor Walker will discuss this and other issues historically, reflecting also on their continuing legacy. Join us at 5:30 p.m. in the Museum Room at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West. * approval pending for 40 minutes EDI Professionalism Credit from the Law Society for Ontario.

Stokes dissertation, "Law, Autonomy, and Local Government: A Legal History of Municipal Corporations in Canada West/Ontario, 1850-1880"

Mary Stokes successfully defended her PHD dissertation, "Law, Autonomy, and Local Government: A Legal History of Municipal Corporations in Canada West/Ontario, 1850-1880" October 15, 2018 at Osgoode Hall Law School. Thanks to supervisor Eric Tucker, supervisory committee members Paul Craven and Doug Hay, defense chair Bruce Ryder, external examiner Jeff McNairn of Queen's University, and internal external Jennifer Stephen of York University Department of History.

Jim Crow in Canadian legal history?

Evening of Canadian Legal History

Oct 29, 2018 - 5:30pm at Museum Room at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West

On October 29th Professor  Barrington Walker will present the third lecture in our lecture series.

Professor Walker will review the Black experience with the law in Canadian history, and what it means for the present and the future. In particular, he will examine whether Canada has a “Jim Crow” legal history. Although Canadian law did not engage in the kind of formalised legal discrimination like the American south, Professor Walker will discuss how Canadian law did little to turn formal legal equality into substantive equality and allowed opportunities for unequal treatment. For example, Ontario law permitted school boards to create separate schools if local residents asked for it until from 1858 until the 1960s. Similarly, while Canada may not have had segregated housing districts, private law achieved this through restrictive covenants while socio-economic inequality and informal actions effectively designated some areas of urban communities as “for the blacks.” Professor Walker will discuss these issues historically and also reflect on their continuing legacy.

Professor Walker is well positioned to discuss these issues because of his past scholarship. He is the author of Race on Trial: Black Defendants in Ontario’s Criminal Courts, 1858-1958 (U of T Press and Osgoode Society, 2010) and the editor of The African-Canadian Legal Odyssey: Historical Essays (U of T Press and Osgoode Society 2012).

* approval pending for 40 minutes EDI Professionalism Credit from the Law Society for Ontario.

Join us at 5:30 p.m. in the Museum Room at Osgoode Hall, 130 Queen Street West.

This event is free provided you are an Osgoode Society Member – please register below.

If you have any questions or require any further information please contact Amanda Campbell at 416-947-3321 or at amanda.campbell@osgoodesociety.ca.

Are you a 2018 Osgoode Society Member?    No    Yes

Are you a fan of Canadian Legal History?

We have a lot of fans. Our main twitter account has passed the 1000 mark--not a lot relative to those of celebrities, journalists and politicians, but quality is more important than quality!

Many of you are members (or lapsed members) of the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. We would like to invite those who aren't, or whose membership has lapsed to join (or re-join.) The membership categories are available on our website, and are all quite reasonable. For the cost of your membership you get a copy of this year's members book--more about this below. You will receive an  invitation to our book launch (always a great party at Osgoode Hall, where you can rub shoulders with some of the luminaries of the profession and judiciary, as well as leaders of the future) and the right to attend our legal history evenings, also held at Osgoode Hall, only available to members. You will also have the ability to purchase from our past catalog at a 25% discount (pending website update to allow differential pricing.) And the knowledge that you are supporting fascinating research in the field, including our always expanding oral history database.

This year is a great one for the Osgoode Society, as it marks the publication of volume one of A History of Law in Canada, by Philip Girard, Jim Phillips and R. Blake Brown, three of the most distinguished and talented legal historians working in Canada today.  We are so proud of this project,  the culmination of forty years of remarkable scholarship, much of it published by the society.

Honestly, it's a great read, good for dipping into or reading straight through. It should be a staple of the library of all lawyers and those interested in our legal past.

Visit our website and become a member today!