Guidelines for Research Paper Due Date: November 17th, 2021, 9 am                                                    

Guidelines for Research Paper

Due Date: November 17th, 2021, 9 am                                                       30% of Final Mark

You must submit the assignment electronically on Quercus on the due date – November 17th.

Late assignments will be penalized 2% per day, including weekends. 2 weeks after the due date (December 1st) no assignments will be accepted.

Format:

The length of your Research Paper is 2500 words or about 10 double spaced pages (Font size: 12, Times New Roman), excluding bibliographical references.

Further Format Guidelines:

In the Research Paper you must also include:

1) A Title Page, with all the basic information: the paper’s title, course information, Instructor’s name, your name and student number. Include a word count in the title page and page numbers in each page.

2) A list of bibliographic references of all the sources used. A minimum of 8 (eight) academic sources is required, in addition to other sources (governmental, from NGOs and media). Avoid listing sources that have not been incorporated into the body of the assignment. Consult a proper handbook for how to reference sources (see referencing style section below).

Referencing style: Use the APA referencing style (or another style of your choice), be consistent and provide complete information for all references. Please consult a style guide in case you have any doubts regarding how to properly include a reference in your assignment.

Objectives:

The primary objective of this assignment is to examine one (or two) of the fundamental freedoms listed under section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and explore the role of the courts in shaping the legal landscape of that freedom. Focus on the upper courts that are able to set a precedent and establish case law/jurisprudence.

The objectives of this assignment are several, and they require you to:

a) conduct research on the role of the Court as policy-makers in Canada;

b) analyse the linkages (or possible linkages) between the status of fundamental rights in Canada and the role of the courts in shaping that status, and the long-term consequences and implications in the society;

c) develop an argument regarding the role of the courts;

d) develop a written body of work that supports your argument.

e) test your ability to follow instructions pertaining to format, style and development of an academic piece of writing.

Paper Guidelines:

The evaluation for this assignment will focus on your understanding of the role of the courts and their relationship with law and politics. Engage in research to gain knowledge and understand the role of the courts as guardians of the Constitution. The central purpose of this assignment is to allow you to apply some of the concepts and material discussed in the course to the study of a specific fundamental right of your own choice, and according to the following guidelines:

1) You must identify the issue(s) that concerns you about the status of the fundamental right of your choice (focus on violations vs. protections of that right). Once you have defined the issue(s) you will be discussing, you must elaborate on how the courts have treated, analyzed and upheld that right. Look at other factor that contribute to such process, such as any legislation that exists in the field, and the politics around it. Does law and politics make the work of the courts easier or more challenging? In what way?

2) It is necessary to make an explicit connection between the issue (s) you’re discussing and the role of the courts.  

3) Look closely on who are the parties that mostly suffer from any violations of the fundamental right. Identify the key actors involved, or stakeholders (interveners) and define their respective positions and the existing or potential conflicts of interest. There are always some competing interests between parties involved in court cases, and you must explicitly identify them.

4) See for patterns in the violations of the fundamental freedom and any change of those patterns over years. To do so, you must look at the jurisprudence (especially of the higher courts) and explore the evidence given in the cases. You can choose a case that illustrates your arguments and examine other specifics (i.e. context and actors involved).

5) As it is the case with all academic essays, your paper must provide a critical analysis, which includes an argument that is clearly positioned within a conceptual framework and supported by a well-balanced discussion of relevant evidence. It must also provide a concise conclusion that logically follows from the given analysis.

Grading guidelines:

The Research Paper is worth 30%, broken down as follows:

1.     Thesis development and argumentation……………………………    18 marks

–       Clarity of thesis  …………………………………………………..3 marks

–       Logical development (organization) of support of thesis …………10 marks

–       Appropriate use of sources to support thesis …………………….. 5 marks 

2.     Readability of paper     ……………………………………………..    4 marks

(Clarity, logical flow of paragraphs, sentence structure, grammar, and spelling)

3.     Accuracy of information … …………………………………………..4 marks

(Accuracy of sources, Currency of sources)

4.     References    ………………………………………………………….4 marks

(Citations, bibliography)

(8 academic sources required; deduct -0.5 for every source missing)     

TOTAL:  30 marks