History of the Laskin

In 1986, two law students, Graham Henderson and the late Jeremy Oliver, had the idea of organizing a truly national and bilingual moot court competition in the area of public law. In the competition’s first year, Graham and Jeremy persuaded three law schools (Laval, McGill and Toronto) to participate. The following year, eight schools participated, and by the third year, fifteen schools sent teams.

The competition was originally called the Constitutional-Administrative Law Moot, but in 1989 was renamed the Laskin, in honour of the late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Bora Laskin.

Since its inception, the Laskin has benefited significantly from the strong support of the Federal Court of Canada.

Every year, the Laskin has featured a problem that is concerned with issues of national interest and social importance. Subjects addressed in past years include discrimination against women, the rights of First Nations peoples, language rights, globalisation, freedom of expression, and the legal implications of cutting-edge technology.