Jula Hughes

Dean Lakehead University

  • Thunder Bay ON

Professor Hughes researches in the areas of criminal law, comparative constitutional law and judicial ethics

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Biography

Professor Hughes researches in the areas of criminal law, comparative constitutional law and judicial ethics. She is the lead researcher on a multi-disciplinary, community-driven research project on the Duty to Consult with Urban Aboriginals in Atlantic Canada conducted by the Urban Aboriginal Knowledge Network. She is the volume editor of James Fitzjames Stephen’s History of the Criminal Law of England, a three-volume contribution to a Selected Works edition of Stephen’s legal, political and literary oeuvre.

Areas of Expertise

Criminal Law
Comparative Constitutional Law
Judicial Ethics
Labour Law
Jurisprudence
Aboriginal Law
Indigenous Governance
Human Rights Law

Accomplishments

University of Victoria, Visiting Scholar

2017

Teaching Excellence Award of the Faculty of Law, UNB

2016

Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa Faculty of Law

September 2014 - June 2015

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Education

University of New Brunswick

D.U.T.

University Teaching

2007

University of Ottawa

LL.B.

1999

University of Erlangen Nuremberg

Ph.D.

1996

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Affiliations

  • Duty to Consult with Urban Aboriginals in Atlantic Canada : Lead Researcher
  • Research Ethics Board of the University of New Brunswick : Board Member
  • Association of University of New Brunswick Teachers : Past President

Media Appearances

Métis in New Brunswick 'ecstatic' over Supreme Court ruling

CBC News  

2016-04-14

University of New Brunswick assistant law Prof. Jula Hughes, who does research regarding the duty to consult in Atlantic Canada, also believes the negotiation table has become bigger, as a result of Thursday's decision.

"This is an emergent area of the law, so I wouldn't want to say anything that would sound like a closed list," she said when asked to provide examples of future negotiations...

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Métis anxiously await landmark Supreme Court ruling on rights

CBC News  

2016-04-12

UNB law professor Jula Hughes says a favourable ruling on Thursday for Canada's estimated 200,000 Métis and 400,000 non-status Indians could open up access to federal programs affecting schooling, child care, health benefits, culture, and language.

"It would get us out of a situation where, for any given person, there is a dispute between the federal government and the provincial government, as to who is responsible," said Hughes.

"And it would improve situations where now people fall through the cracks."...

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P.E.I. abortion decision fuels access concerns in New Brunswick

CBC News  

2016-04-01

By not funding the clinic it creates "a climate of shame and a climate of stigma," said Jula Hughes, associate professor at the University of New Brunswick's Faculty of Law...

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Event Appearances

Politics is Women’s Work - A Gender Lens on the Duty to Consult

Institute for Feminist Legal Studies  Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, ON.

2017-02-03

The Duty to Consult Off-Reserve and Non-Status Populations

Faculty of Law  University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK.

2016-10-31

Gender Discrimination and the Duty to Consult

Invited Speaker  University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.

2016-05-13

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Articles

From Principles to Rules: The Case for Statutory Rules Governing Aspects of Judicial Disqualification

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

2016

The common law “reasonable apprehension of bias” test for judicial disqualification is highly fact and context specific. While there are good reasons for this approach as a general proposition, it also gives rise to considerable uncertainty for both judges and litigants in considering whether or not it is appropriate for the judge to sit in a marginal case. This article explores rule-based judicial disqualification regimes in the United States, Germany and the Quebec Code of Civil Procedure to gain insights into how rules can be employed to provide greater clarity to judges and litigants who are addressing situations that have the potential to give rise to judicial disqualification. Using these insights, the authors then propose the use of rules to address problem areas with respect to professional relationships with former colleagues and clients, prior judicial involvement with litigants, extra-judicial writings, and procedural rules for making determinations concerning judicial disqualification.

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Like Oil on Troubled Water: A Labour Perspective on the Charter Labour Jurisprudence of Justice Louis Lebel

70 Supreme Court Law Review

2015

Justice LeBel has made highly significant and positive contributions to the development of the Supreme Court’s Charter labour jurisprudence. During his tenure, the Labour Trilogy of the 1980s was overturned and the constitutionalization of important labour rights under section 2(d) of the Charter emerged. Justice LeBel led the way towards infusing the jurisprudence with international, comparative and labour history methodologies and alerting it to the implications of globalization. These contributions have fundamentally altered the Court’s views on the basic function of labour law, one that accords with the broad, purposive and liberal construction of other Charter rights as protective of vulnerable interests. He put to rest a very troubled common law history, and overcame an incoherent and narrow early Charter labour jurisprudence. His version of freedom of association can afford to be broad and liberal because its articulated purpose will prevent an application to associational activities that should not be protected while protecting those that advance the legitimate interests of disadvantaged groups. These momentous changes are welcome as they enhance the legitimacy of the Court and the Charter for working people, but they have created some uncertainty about the circumstances in which the Court will depart from constitutional precedent.

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Urban Aboriginal People and the Honour of the Crown - A Discussion Paper

University of New Brunswick Law Journal

2015

Aboriginal people in Canada are urbanizing along with other Canadians and, in fact, the global human population. Empirical research suggests that Aboriginal people thrive in the urban environment. Despite this, a strong mythology persists that imagines the Aboriginal person as residing in rural settings, usually on a remote reserve. By contrast, the urban landscape is described as hostile and fundamentally unsuited to Aboriginal living. The mythology persists because there is a lack of awareness about the needs, aspirations, contributions and social structures of urban Aboriginal populations in Canada. In this paper, we explore whether governmental mechanisms developed in the context of the constitutional duty to consult with Aboriginal peoples should be mobilized to improve awareness about urban Aboriginal populations and governmental responsiveness to their needs and aspirations. We discuss the legal framework of the duty to consult, the conceptual and practical challenges in making the duty to consult work for urban Aboriginal people and we point to areas where further research is required.

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