Runnymede Society – We are an independent, not-for-profit, and non-partisan law student membership group.

A Legal Forum for Intellectual Diversity

The Runnymede Society is a membership-based organization that invites speakers from all across the ideological spectrum to debate legal ideas that engage the rule of law, constitutionalism, and individual liberty. The goal is to focus on these age-old principles in the context of real issues that are not often explored in the law school classrooms.

The Common Law and the Judicial Role

Naomi Papavero 2025-07-07

What is the proper pace of development of the common law? Today’s encore episode from Law & Freedom 2025 features Christoph Pike (McCarthy Tétrault), Prof. Stéphane Sérafin (University of Ottawa Faculty of Law), Alexi Wood (St. Lawrence Barristers), Asher Honickman (Jordan Honickman Barristers), and Prof. Malcolm Lavoie (University of Alberta Faculty of Law). Watch the full video on our Member Area. The full recording contains 1 hour and 05 minutes of Professionalism Content (Law Society of Ontario).

Morton: The Politicization of the Courts

Naomi Papavero 2025-06-23

Have the courts become political? In this encore episode from Law & Freedom 2025, Professor Ted Morton argues that changes in how Canadians view the role of our courts and the purpose of our constitution have politicized our courts. The full panel discussion, featuring three other speakers, can be found on our Member Area. Further reading: The Charter Revolution and the Court Party.

Veel: A Quantitative Analysis of the Supreme Court

Naomi Papavero 2025-06-09

How does the Supreme Court of Canada decide which cases it hears? Paul-Erik Veel, adjunct professor at the University of Toronto, shares a fascinating quantitative analysis on the Court’s decision-making, exploring everything from case selection and output to judicial agreement. Watch this full session on Runnymede’s Member Area: https://runnymedesociety.ca/en/account/.

The Runnymede Society Announces Two Graduate Legal Fellowships, Honouring Justices Jack Major and Marshall Rothstein

Naomi Papavero 2025-06-05

(La version française suit) CALGARY: The Runnymede Society is pleased to announce the expansion of its graduate legal fellowship program, offering two prestigious awards to exceptional Canadian students pursuing graduate legal studies. This year, in addition to the established Jack Major Fellowship, the Society will award a new Marshall Rothstein Fellowship. Both fellowships provide a $25,000.00 award. These fellowships are designed to support students who demonstrate a commitment to constitutionalism, fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law, principles central to

Milousis: Limiting Harm vs Freedom of Expression

Naomi Papavero 2025-05-26

Can free expression be limited based on an administrative body’s prediction of resulting harm? Can a university expel a student for having an opinion on a particular social issue that it considers unprofessional? Lia Milousis, lawyer with the Acacia Group and leader of our Ottawa lawyers’ chapter, discusses two cases involving the prevention of harm as a reason for limiting freedom of speech.

Newman: Property Rights and the Charter

Naomi Papavero 2025-05-12

Why were property rights excluded from the Charter? Professor Dwight Newman of the University of Saskatchewan joined students at the University of British Columbia’s Peter A. Allard School of Law to discuss his research on this subject and the opportunity for further study on this topic. Further reading: Dwight Newman & Lorelle Binnion, “The Exclusion of Property Rights from the Charter: Correcting the Historical Record” (2015) 52:3 Alta. L. Rev. 543