7 minute read
Focus Law/Droit - 2023-2024
Platinum milestone for the McGill Law Journal
The revered MLJ celebrated 70 years of student leadership in service of the best legal scholarship
By Maeve Haldane
For generations of passionate law students, the McGill Law Journal has been their first chance at making a real impact on the legal world and certainly not their last.
Started in 1952 by students Gerald Eric Le Dain and Jacques-Yvan Morin, the rigorously student-edited and peer-reviewed publication has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada over 150 times, by far the most of any university-based law journal. The MLJ’s bilingual reference guide, the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, sets the standards from sea to shining sea.
The MLJ alumni roster reads like a Who’s Who of the last 70 years in Canada. Previous editors have become judges and prominent legal leaders, such as the late Hon. John Gomery, BCL’56, and Dick Pound, BCL’67, LLD’09. Pierre Elliot Trudeau has contributed to its pages. Two editors in chief Stephen Toope, BCL’83, LLB’83, LLD’17, and Robert Leckey, BCL’02, LLB’02 went on to become McGill Law deans.
All the stellar students who have built the McGill Law Journal into the institution it is today have shared a common passion: finding the best legal scholarship, in Canada or elsewhere, and making it accessible to the greatest possible number. In service of this mission, editors over the years expanded the journal’s mandate to organizing annual lectures, symposia, and, since 2012, producing podcasts.
As its 68th editor in chief, and the first Black student to hold the role, third-year student Ommu-Kulsoom Abdul-Rahman put her own stamp on the MLJ. Before, only executive editors reviewed submissions, but she realized there was a large pool of underutilized talent in the 34-strong team. She opened the evaluation process to all editors.
“We were missing out on their areas of expertise and their unique perceptions,” she explains. For instance, Abdul-Rahman isn’t as interested in maritime matters, but doesn’t want that to cloud her judgment when reading an article. “Having more folks in the room ensured I was getting a broader perspective on the submission.”
With four issues per volume and over a hundred submissions each, that’s a lot to winnow through. Those that pass a screening by the MLJ editorial team are sent to peer reviewers, who weigh in with their recommendations. At first, Abdul-Rahman found it hard to say no to would-be authors, who are usually established academics and professionals. But the red pen became easier to wield with time.
Abdul-Rahman credits her predecessor Arthur Scalabrini, BCL/LLB’22, for encouraging her to apply for the position. He pointed out that other volunteer opportunities like legal clinics could be pursued later in her career. But running the MLJ was truly a once-in-a-lifetime chance.
Former MLJ editors in chief Where are they now?
Laura Cárdenas (BCL/LLB’18)
Rédactrice en chef du vol. 62 (2016–2017)
Plurilingue et lauréate de plusieurs prix pour ses articles juridiques, Laura Cárdenas s’est jointe à IMK en 2021. Elle a comparu devant toutes les instances judiciaires au Québec et plaidé devant la Cour suprême du Canada. Son expertise réside en litige civil, commercial et des droits protégés par les Chartres canadienne et québécoise, notamment en ce qui concerne la discrimination et les communautés LGBTQ+. Elle a été auxiliaire juridique pour l’Honorable Sheilah L. Martin (BCL’81, LLB’81).
Moments forts
Laura Cárdenas tire fierté d’avoir publié le premier volume de la Revue de droit de McGill avec une parité homme-femme et français-anglais parmi ses contributions.
« J’étais aussi ravie d’avoir convaincu la professeure Mari Matsuda [N.D.L.R. une éminence de la Critical Race Theory aux États-Unis] d’offrir notre conférence annuelle cet événement demeure l’un des plus beaux moments de mon passage à McGill. »
Les défis
Le respect des échéances les siennes et celles d’autrui. « Je me souviens en particulier d’une personne qui avait dû retarder la remise de son article pour des raisons de santé... avant de disparaître pendant des mois. À un certain point, nous vérifions même les rubriques nécrologiques en ligne avant de lui envoyer des rappels, nous ne savions plus à quoi nous attendre ! (Heureusement, la personne allait bien et s’est finalement manifestée.) »
Gratitude
« J’ai eu la chance de compter sur une équipe brillante et dédiée qui a tout rendu possible (et d’avoir un jeune enfant très compréhensif, toujours prêt à s’amuser dans les bureaux de la Revue pendant que je révisais des articles !). Je tiens à remercier Nicole (notre incroyable directrice de la production) qui l’a entraîné dans d’innombrables courses autour du 3e étage, le temps que je révise des notes de bas de page ou approuve des épreuves. »
Le verdict
« Être rédactrice en chef a été difficile, mais combien gratifiant ! »
The Hon. Azimuddin Hussain (BCL’00, LLB’00)
Editor in Chief of Vol. 45 (2000)
Hussain was appointed as a judge of the Superior Court of Quebec in December 2021. He practised as a litigator in Montreal before that, at the firms Novalex and Norton Rose Fulbright. In the context of his litigation practice, he made submissions at the Supreme Court of Canada numerous times, in cases ranging from constitutional law to foreign state immunity to the professional liability of lawyers. An important part of his practice was devoted to facilitating access to justice.
Highlights
Some articles from volume 45 continue to be thought-provoking for Hussain, including a wide-ranging one by Justice Charles Gonthier on how fraternity is the forgotten leg of the three pillars of democracy: liberty, equality, fraternity. “The article gave me a lot to think about regarding the role of law in society,” he says.
Learning experience
Hussain drew on his MLJ skills when co-writing a book on foreign state immunity. “In MLJ fashion, this book is bilingual to facilitate the exchange about the caselaw across the country. My MLJ experience came in handy when it came time to edit the summaries.”
Final judgement
“The MLJ experience was very useful in my practice as a litigator and continues to be valuable for my work as a judge. The editing exercise instills a discipline that is a very important part of the process of drafting legal texts. Presenting arguments and reasoning in a form that is easy to read makes the substantive legal points more convincing.”
Julia Hanigsberg (BCL’91, LLB’91)
Editor in Chief of Vol. 36 (1990–1991)
President and CEO of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Vice Chair of the Ontario Hospital Association, and on the CEO committee of the Toronto Academic Health Science Network. Hanigsberg sits on many healthcare boards, was Vice-President of Toronto Metropolitan University from 2010 to 2014, and in 2020 was named to the WXN Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame.
Highlights
Hanigsberg officially established French and English editorial positions after one year’s vote led to an anomalous all-anglophone board. Her team decided to restructure the entire executive leadership.
“I remember it as a difficult and emotional time as we tried to address all of the individual, structural and philosophical reactions to and repercussions from the election. I am proud that ultimately we came together and I think lost no camaraderie or collegiality.”
Challenges
Roughly each decade, the MLJ updates The Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, which fell during her mandate. “I don’t know if it is still the same now, but updating the citation guide felt like taking a red pen to the 10 commandments!”
Memorable moments
Because so much of Hanigsberg’s time was taken up by MLJ duties, her professor Justice Rosalie Abella (a previous MLJ contributor) allowed her to delay a presentation until the very last day of class. This was the era before cell phones. “It just happened that the power went out that day and the Faculty was plunged into darkness. Because there wasn’t going to be another opportunity to present I had to go ahead of course from memory alone without any notes because I couldn’t have read them without any light! Justice Abella and I are friends to this day and this continues to be a story we both tell and laugh about.”
