Correctional Law is a specialized branch of administrative law dealing with administrative law principles and remedies in the context of the prison system. Students who enrol in this clinical course become student members of the Correctional Law Project. The Project is a specialized legal clinic that provides legal advice, assistance and representation to prisoners in federal penitentiaries in the Kingston area. This clinical course provides students with the opportunity to develop essential lawyering skills by becoming involved in the legal practice carried on by the Correctional Law Project. Students will interview prisoner clients and witnesses. Students will represent prisoner clients at trials in Penitentiary Disciplinary courts and at hearings before the National Parole Board. Students will prepare facta for inmate appeals against conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Students will also be involved in providing legal advice and assistance to prisoner clients on a variety of other matters. Through the experience of involvement in the Project’s legal practice, students will have many opportunities to develop skill in advocacy, in interviewing clients and witnesses, in legal research, analysis and drafting and in establishing and managing effective solicitor/client relationships.
