Lawrence David

Lawrence David is a proudly bilingual public law scholar and lawyer who teaches Criminal Law and Procedure, Administrative Law, and Constitutional Law.

Professor David's courses are designed to focus on the students' best interests. Textbooks are normally optional, and the vast majority of course materials are made available free of charge using open-access sources on the Internet. He prides himself on fostering an atmosphere conducive to respectful dialogue and contributing to the training of the next generations of jurists, academics, and informed democratic actors.

Lawrence has extensive experience in law and policy at the federal level, including positions in the Privy Council Office, the Senate of Canada, the House of Commons, and the Department of Justice Canada. Lawrence also clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for the Honourable Rosalie Abella (2015-2016) and at the Quebec Court of Appeal (2013-2014).

In these capacities, Lawrence had the privilege of contributing to the development of important legislative and regulatory initiatives, and to several judgments of considerable national importance. Lawrence's experience with all three branches of Canadian government has given him unique insight into the relationship between law and governance, law and public policy, and the separation of powers.

Lawrence is the author of the only monograph on the doctrine and practice of stare decisis in the Supreme Court of Canada, entitled Stare Decisis, The Charter and The Rule of Law in The Supreme Court of Canada (LexisNexis, 2020). He is also co-author of the Halsbury's Laws of Canada volume on common law damages ( edition 2021) with expert Bruce Feldthusen.

Lawrence is also Founder and President of the Public Interest Litigation Institute, whose mandate is to uphold and advance the rule of law and the public interest, including in appeals heard by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Lawrence has appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Quebec Court of Appeal, the Quebec Superior Court, the Federal Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, the Ontario Superior Court, the Ontario Court of Justice, and the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He is a member in good standing of the Ontario Bar.

Lawrence has represented interveners in the following appeals heard by the Supreme Court of Canada:

• Procureur général du Québec v. Bijou Cibuabua Kanyinda (SCC No. 41210) (2025) (constitutional law)
• TransAlta Generation Partnership LLP v. Alberta, 2024 SCC 37 (administrative law)
• Auer v. Auer, 2024 SCC 36 (administrative law)

• Criminal Law and Procedure (CML 11031 / CML 11032)
• Administrative Law (CML 2312) / Droit administratif (CML 2712)
• Constitutional Law II (CML 1613B)
• Stare Decisis and The Constitution / et la Constitution (CML 4914 D)

• The Supreme Court of Canada Is Wrong to Refuse to Translate its Pre-1970 Decisions (with Yan Campagnolo and François Larocque) (The Conversation, October 1, 2024)
• Stare Decisis, the Charter and the Rule of Law in the Supreme Court of Canada (LexisNexis, 2020)
• Chapter on the Supreme Court of Canada in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law, Oxford University Press (2019)
• "A Biographical Account of the Supreme Court of Canada's Decision in R v Big M Drug Mart Ltd" in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law, Oxford University Press (2019)
• "The Face of an Institution: Beverley McLachlin's Reinvention of the Role of the Chief Justice of Canada" (International Journal of Constitutional Law Blog, December 2017)
• "Religious Institutionalism in a Canadian Context"(2015) 52:3 Osgoode Hall LJ 1048 (co-authored with Professor Victor Muniz-Fraticelli, McGill) (cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 12 at para. 60.