Nadia Verrelli

• Laurentian University

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled on four cases of women’s defensive violence in the context of intimate partner violence. The Canadian news media plays a role in explaining the legal and social importance of these decisions. Its coverage can contribute to stronger social awareness of the problem and legal tools available or to the perpetuation...

Background: The news coverage of domestic violence survivors who lethally defend themselves is often negative and promotes misconceptions. The trials of Nicole Doucet, who tried to hire a hitman to kill her abusive husband, provides an opportunity to assess if tone of the coverage changed over time. Analysis: News coverage of the Ryan case started...

This article explores the threat that Indigenous protest poses to Canada. However, it examines this potential for threat at an ontological level rather than a material level. In adopting a liminality framework, the article traces the capacity for Indigenous protest to menace and undermine Canada's national identity. More specifically, it analyzes t...

The case of R. v Ryan presented the Supreme Court of Canada with a novel question: may a wife, whose life is threatened by her abusive husband, rely on the defence of duress when she tries to have him murdered? In this article, we argue that by answering this novel question in the negative, the Court missed an opportunity to clarify the nature and...

On July 13, 2013, the Commission for Public Complaints released the Report Following a Public Interest Investigation into the Conduct of RCMP Members in Nova Scotia in Respect to Matters Involving Nicole (Ryan) Doucet . After interviewing all parties involved and reviewing 25 incidences involving Ms. Doucet and Mr. Ryan, the Acting Commissioner, Ia...

Canada's Clarity Act, an act governing the process and practice of future referendums on Quebec sovereignty, has managed to find its way into the discourse, discussion and debate surrounding the 18 September 2014 referendum in Scotland. This article explores the notion of 'clarity' as it is being applied to the Scottish referendum, the consequences...