This course will introduce students to the relationship between law and poverty. Students will engage in a critical analysis of the social phenomenon of poverty and assess strategies for promoting access to justice by lawyers and the legal system. Topics covered will include social assistance, homelessness and housing, legal aid, panhandling, as well as the dilemmas and debates concerning globalization and poverty. Law's intersection with poverty will be examined from a number of conceptual perspectives, including human rights standards (e.g. the Charter, Human Rights Codes and international human rights instruments), procedural safeguards and administrative law, as well as the distribution of authority for poverty related programs under Canadian federalism. The normative and practical issues raised by `practising law for poor people' will be central themes. Throughout the term, students will be invited to engage in a sustained interrogation of the significance of the relationship between the state, law, and social policy, with a focus on gendered, racialized, and class relations, as well as Indigenous and marginalized communities.
This course will introduce students to the relationship between law and poverty. Students will engage in a critical analysis of the social phenomenon of poverty and assess strategies for promoting access to justice by lawyers and the legal system. Topics covered will include social assistance, homelessness and housing, legal aid, panhandling, as well as the dilemmas and debates concerning globalization and poverty. Law's intersection with poverty will be examined from a number of conceptual perspectives, including human rights standards (e.g. the Charter, Human Rights Codes and international human rights instruments), procedural safeguards and administrative law, as well as the distribution of authority for poverty related programs under Canadian federalism. The normative and practical issues raised by `practising law for poor people' will be central themes. Throughout the term, students will be invited to engage in a sustained interrogation of the significance of the relationship between the state, law, and social policy, with a focus on gendered, racialized, and class relations, as well as Indigenous and marginalized communities.
