On April 4, 2025, Osgoode Hall Law School hosted the 28th Annual Constitutional Cases Conference, a leading forum for legal scholars, practitioners, and students to analyse the Supreme Court of Canada’s most impactful constitutional decisions of the past year.
A highlight of this year’s conference was the Laskin Keynote Lecture, delivered by The Honourable Mary T. Moreau, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Drawing on her extensive background in criminal and constitutional law, including her time as Chief Justice of the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, Justice Moreau’s lecture explored themes of continuity and transformation in Charter jurisprudence. She also used the opportunity to introduce herself more personally to the legal community, weaving in reflections on change and stability within her own career and life’s journey.
The 2025 program examined:
- The Supreme Court’s 2024 constitutional jurisprudence: A review of key constitutional rulings and doctrinal trends from the past year.
- Indigenous governance and the Canadian Constitution: Analysis of Dickson and the Indigenous child welfare reference, focusing on sections 15 and 25 of the Charter and federalism.
- The constitutional structure of criminal justice: Cases explored Charter remedies, military justice, standing, and privacy rights in the criminal law context.
- Reasonableness, rights, and review in administrative law: Discussions on standard of review and how administrative bodies address rights, through recent Supreme Court decisions.
- Courts, politics, and public trust: Reflections on judicial legitimacy, democratic institutions, and comparative insights.
Chaired by Professors Benjamin L. Berger, Emily Kidd White, and Sonia Lawrence, the conference brought together leading voices in Canadian constitutional law to reflect on the future of constitutional jurisprudence and the Court’s crucial role in shaping governance, rights, and justice.
Acknowledgements:
The 2025 Laskin Lecture was made possible with the support of the York Centre for Public Policy and Law, and the conference papers are generously sponsored by LexisNexis Canada.