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The Julius Alexander Isaac Moot

The Isaac Moot

 

The Julius Alexander Isaac Moot ("The Isaac") is a competitive, for-credit moot, held at the Ontario Court of Appeal. It is named after the late Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal, Julius Alexander Isaac, who was the first Black judge to sit on the Federal Court of Canada. Every year since 2008, the Moot has focused on an area of law in which issues of equity and diversity arise.

2020 BLSA Canada Conference Photographs
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History.

The Moot

BLSA Canada first held what was then known as the Annual Koskie Minsky Diversity Moot Competition in 2008. In 2012, the Moot was named after the late Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal, Julius Alexander Isaac, the first Black judge to sit on the Federal Court of Canada.

Since its inception, the unilingual moot has focused on an area of law in which issues of equity and diversity arise, often incorporating elements of critical race theory into the problem.  The Black Law Student Association of Canada administers the Julius Alexander Isaac Moot in collaboration with law firms, law schools and community organizations. BLSA Canada has partnered with Joshua Sealy-Harrington to write the Moot problem for the upcoming year.

Justice Isaac

Legal luminary Julius Alexander Isaac was the first Black person to sit on the Federal Court of Canada. Born in Grenada, Isaac came to Canada to study at the University of Toronto. He practiced law in Ontario and Saskatchewan and served as a Crown prosecutor before becoming the assistant deputy Attorney-General of Canada.

Joining the bench of the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1989, he was appointed to the post of Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada on December 23, 1991 by then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney,  making Isaac the first Black person to be named to the position.

An Order of Canada recipient and Grenada silver jubilee award winner, Isaac co-founded the Grenada Association of Toronto 44 years ago, served as co-chair of the James Johnston Chair in Black Studies at Dalhousie University and was a member of the Negro Citizenship Committee, the Grand United Order of Oddfellows, Black Artists in Action and the Caribbean Cultural Committee. Dalhousie University, the University of Windsor and the University of the West Indies also conferred honourary doctorates on him.

The Honourable Julius A. Isaac passed away peacefully surrounded by his family on July 16, 2011.

Learn more here and here.

2021 Participant Information

Dates | 14th Annual Julius Alexander Isaac Moot:

 

Friday, October 2, 2020

Online registration opens

Friday, November 6, 2020

Deadline for online registration

Monday, November 9, 2020

Official Moot Package sent to participants

 

Friday, November 27, 2020 at 4:30pm EST

Deadline for receipt of clarification requests related to Official Problem and Official Rules

Friday, December 4, 2020 at 4:30pm EST

Answers to clarification requests released

Monday, January 4, 2021 at 4:30pm EST

Deadline for submission of an electronic (PDF) Respondent and Appellant facta

Friday, January 8, 2021

Electronic Copies of each team’s facta will be sent, via email to the contact person identified on the team registration form, to corresponding opposing teams

Monday, February 1, 2021

Release of Zoom links for Moot

Friday & Saturday, February 5-6, 2021

Moot Competition via Zoom
Image by Tingey Injury Law Firm

REAL JUDGES

 

The final round of the Moot features a panel of sitting judges. In the past, the final round has been judged by justices from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Appeal.

INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITY

 

The first-place winner is invited to compete at the National Convention of the American National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA) Thurgood Marshall Moot Court Competition (TMMCC). The competitors in the TMMCC come from all across the US, and must win regional competitions before moving on to the main event

BEAUTIFUL VENUE

 

The Isaac Moot is typically held at the Ontario Court of Appeal, which is located in historic Osgoode Hall in the heart of downtown Toronto. In addition to hosting ONCA, Osgoode Hall has a storied history in Canada's legal community since it was built in the late 1800's, and is Canadian National Historic Monument.

GREAT NETWORKING

 

The Moot provides an excellent opportunity for networking with peers at other law schools, with practicing lawyers, and even judges. Further, it is an opportunity to show off your skills in front of lawyers from some of the best law firms in Canada.

Past Participants

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A Warm Thank You To Our Sponsors

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The BLSA Canada Executive Board recognizes that our work takes place across many Indigenous territories across the land now called Canada. There are 70 treaties signed between the Crown and Indigenous nations, as well as unceded territories in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. We would also like to acknowledge that our office, located in Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario), is home to many Indigneous nations, including the Anishinaabe, the Haudenosaunee, and the Mississaugas of the New Credit, and lies in the territo​ry governed by The Dish with One Spoon treaty. Indigenous peoples continue to live on and commune with these lands, and we are mindful of broken covenants and the past and present impacts of settler colonialism. We make this acknowledgement as an act of reconciliation and gratitude to those in whose territory we reside.

Le conseil d'administration de l’AÉND Canada reconnaît que notre travail s'effectue dans de nombreux territoires autochtones à travers ce qui est maintenant appelé le Canada. Il existe 70 traités signés entre la Couronne et les nations autochtones, ainsi que des territoires non cédés en Colombie-Britannique, en Ontario, au Québec et en Nouvelle-Écosse. Nous tenons également à souligner que notre bureau, situé à Tkaronto (Toronto, Ontario), se trouve sur le territoire régi par le traité Un plat à une cuillère et qu’il abrite de nombreuses nations autochtones, notamment les Anichinabés, les Haudenosaunee et la Première Nation des Mississaugas de Credit. Les peuples autochtones continuent de vivre et de communier avec ces terres, et nous sommes conscients des pactes brisés et des impacts passés et présents du colonialisme. Nous faisons de cette reconnaissance un acte de réconciliation et de gratitude envers ceux sur le territoire desquels nous résidons.

© 2023 Black Law Students' Association of Canada | L'Association des étudiants noirs en droit du Canada. All rights reserved.

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