The R v NS Case: Why did the Supreme Court Change the Oakes Test?
The Annie MacDonald Langstaff Workshop Series presents the 2012 Patricia Allen Memorial Lecture, with special guest Professor Beverley Baines, Faculty of Law, Queens University. The R v NS Case deals with the question of whether should a female Muslim witness be allowed to wear a niqab while testifying before a court.
About the speaker
Professor Baines' research examines the constitutionality of state interference with the equality rights and religious freedom of women in Canada, focusing specifically on issues raised by criminalizing polygamy, banning niqabs, and restricting faith-based family law arbitrations. Other research interests include gender and the judiciary, particularly the feminist features of the jurisprudence of the late Justice Bertha Wilson.