Jocelyn Downie

B.A. (Queen's) 1984; M.A. (Queen's) 1985; M.Litt. (Cambridge) 1990; LL.B. (Toronto) 1993; LL.M. (Michigan) 1996; S.J.D. (Michigan) 1999

Telephone: (902) 494-6883
E-mail: jocelyn.downie@dal.ca

Biography:

Professor Downie works at the intersection of law, ethics and health care. Her research interests include women's health, assisted death, research involving humans, and organ transplantation.  Her work is interdisciplinary, collaborative, and geared both to contributing to the academic literature and to affecting change in health law and policy at federal and provincial levels.

Courses

·         LAWS 2099 - The Legal Profession and Professional Responsibility

·         LAWS 2115 - Health Care Ethics and the Law

Publications:

Books in Print

·         Jocelyn Downie, Michael Hadskis, Karen McEwen, & William MacInnis, eds., Dental Law in Canada, 2^nd ed. [Toronto: Lexis-Nexis, forthcoming 2009].

·         Jocelyn Downie, Timothy Caulfield, & Colleen Flood, eds., Canadian Health Law and Policy, 3rd  ed. (Toronto: Butterworths, 2007). 

·         Jocelyn Downie and Elaine Gibson, eds., Health Law at the Supreme Court of Canada (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2007).

·         Jocelyn Downie, Dying Justice: A Case for Decriminalizing Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada (University of Toronto Press, 2004).

·         Françoise Baylis, Jocelyn Downie, Barry Hoffmaster, & Susan Sherwin, eds., Health Care Ethics in Canada, 2d ed. (Toronto: Thomson Nelson, 2004).

·         Jon Thompson, Patricia Baird, & Jocelyn Downie, The Olivieri Report: The Complete Text of the Report of the Independent Inquiry Commissioned by the Canadian Association of University Teachers (Toronto: James Lorimer & Co., 2001).

Recent Chapters in Books:

·         Jocelyn Downie, "The Ends of Life and Death: Public Policy, Spirituality, and the Law" in the Segelberg Trust Lecture Series Collection [forthcoming in 2009].

·         Jocelyn Downie, "Palliative Care in the ICU Through a Legal Lens" in Graeme Rocker ed., Intensive Care Unit: From Advancing Disease Bereavement, Oxford Specialist Handbook Series End of Life [forthcoming in 2009].

·         Nuala Kenny, Jocelyn Downie, & Christine Harrison, “Respectful Involvement of Children in Medical Decision-Making” in Peter Singer ed., Bioethics for Clinicians (forthcoming: Cambridge University Press, Spring 2007).

·         Jocelyn Downie, “Assisted Death at the Supreme Court of Canada” in Jocelyn Downie and Elaine Gibson, eds., Health Law at the Supreme Court of Canada (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2007).

·         Jocelyn Downie, “Grasping the Nettle: Confronting the Issue of Competing Interests and Obligations in Health Research Policy” in C. Flood, ed., Just Medicare: What’s In, What’s Out, How We Decide (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2006).

·         Jocelyn Downie, Maegen Giltrow, & Alison Shea, "The Regulation of Dental Research" in Jocelyn Downie, Karen McEwen, & William MacInnis, eds., Dental Law in Canada (Toronto: Butterworths, 2004).

Recent Articles:

·         Matthew Kutcher, Victoria Apold, & Jocelyn Downie, ”Will the Brain Ever Take the Stand? Canadian Law and the Admissibility of Neurotechnology Lie Detection Evidence” Criminal Law Quarterly [forthcoming 2009].

·         Chris Kaposy & Jocelyn Downie, “Reproductive Choice in Canadian Courts: An Evidence-based Call for a Move to Relational Autonomy” Advocates’ Quarterly [forthcoming 2009].

·         Jocelyn Downie, “Glass Houses: The Power of Money in Bioethics Research” IJFAB [forthcoming 2009].

·         Jocelyn Downie, Matthew Kutcher, Chantelle Rajotte, & Alison Shea, “Eligibility for Organ Donation: A Medico-Legal Perspective on Defining and Determining Death” Canadian Journal of Anesthesia [forthcoming 2009].

·         Matthias Schmidt & Jocelyn Downie, “Safety First: Recognizing the Managing of Risks to Child Participants in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research” (2009) 16 Accountability in Research 153-173.

·         Jocelyn Downie & Richard Devlin, “Fitness for Purpose: Mandatory Continuing Legal Ethics Education for Lawyers” (2009) 87 Canadian Bar Review 773-804.

·         Jocelyn Downie & Simone Bern, “Rodriguez Redux” (2008) 16 Health Law Journal 27-54.

·         Chris Kaposy & Jocelyn Downie, “Judicial Reasoning about Pregnancy and Choice” (2008) 16 Health Law Journal 281-304.

·         Jocelyn Downie & Jennifer Llewellyn, “Relational Theory and Health Law and Policy” (2008) Health Law Journal Special Edition 193-210.

·         Jocelyn Downie, Chantelle Rajotte, & Alison Shea, “Pre-Mortem Transplantation Optimizing Interventions: The Legal Status of Consent” (2008) 55:7 Canadian Journal of Anesthesia 458-469.

·         Jocelyn Downie & Carla Nassar, “Barriers to Access to Abortion Through a Legal Lens” (2008) 15 Health Law Journal 143-173.

·          Richard Devlin and Jocelyn Downie, “Mandatory Legal Education is a Step in the Right Direction” (2008) Lawyers Weekly.

·         Jocelyn Downie and Richard Devlin, “Are Law Schools Amoral Boot Camps?” book review of Lawyers Gone Bad: Money, Sex and Madness in Canada’s Legal Profession by Philip Slayton, (2008) 16:1 Literary Review of Canada 6-7.

·          Michael Hadskis, Nuala Kenny, Jocelyn Downie, Matthias Schmidt, Ryan D’Arcy, “The Therapeutic Misconception: A Threat to Valid Parental Consent for Paediatric Neuroimaging Research” (2008) 15:3 Accountability in Research 133-151.

·          Jocelyn Downie, Alison Shea, & Chantelle Rajotte, “Family Override of Valid Donor Consent to Post-Mortem Donation: Issues in Law and Practice” (2008) 40 Transplantation Proceedings 1255-1263.

·          Erik Viirre, Françoise Baylis, & Jocelyn Downie, “Promises and Perils of Cognitive Performance Tools: A Dialogue” (2007) Vol. 11 Technology 9-25.

·         Jocelyn Downie in William A. Darity, Editor-in-Chief, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, 2nd Ed. (MacMillan Reference USA: Thomson Gale, 2007) s.v. “assisted death”.

·          Richard Devlin, Jocelyn Downie, and Stephanie Lane, “Taking Responsibility: Mandatory Legal Ethics in Canadian Law Schools” (2007) The Advocate.

·          Jocelyn Downie, Nuala Kenny, & Chantelle Rajotte, “Problematic Principles: The CMA on Public/Private Health Care” (January 2007) 15:2 Health Law Review 15-16.

·          Jocelyn Downie, Beth Halperin, Noni MacDonald, & Ryan Melnychuk, “When is it Permissible to Dismiss a Family Who Refuses Vaccines? Legal, Ethical and Public Health Perspectives” (2007) 12:10 Paediatrics and Child Health 843-845.

·          Jocelyn Downie & Ronalda Murphy, “Inadmissible, Eh?” (2007) 7:9 The American Journal of Bioethics 67-69.

·          Jennifer Marshall, Toby Martin, Jocelyn Downie, & Krisztina Malisza, “A Comprehensive Analysis of MRI Research Risks: In Support of Full Disclosure” (2007) 34:1 The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences 11-17.

·          Jocelyn Downie and Matthew Herder, “Reflections on the Commercialization of Research Conducted in Public Institutions in Canada” (2007) 1:1 The McGill Health Law Publication 23-44.

·          Jocelyn Downie, Matthias Schmidt, Nuala Kenny, Ryan D’Arcy, Michael Hadskis, & Jennifer Marshall, “Paediatric MRI Research Ethics: The Priority Issues” (2007) 4:2 Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 85-91.

·         Jocelyn Downie & Jennifer Marshall, “Paediatric Neuroimaging Ethics” (2007) 16:2 Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 147-160.

·         Noni MacDonald & Jocelyn Downie, “Editorial Policy: Industry Funding and Editorial Independence” (editorial) (June 2006) 174:13 Canadian Medical Association Journal 1817.

·         Jocelyn Downie, “The Canadian Agency for the Oversight of Research Involving Humans: A Reform Proposal” (2006) 13 Accountability in Research 75 - 100.

·         Jocelyn Downie, “The Power of Money: Commercialisation of Research Conducted in Public Institutions” (2006) 11:2 University of Otago Law Review 305 - 325.