Leonid Sirota
Associate Professor in Law
Areas of interest
Leonid works on a variety of subjects related to public law. These include constitutional interpretation, the political constitution (including constitutional conventions), the law of democracy, judicial review of administrative action, judicial power, and the Rule of Law. Much of his work has focused on Canada, but he is also interested in UK and comparative law, and frequently draws on US constitutional thought.
Postgraduate supervision
Leonid welcomes postgraduate students interested in constitutional law and theory and administrative law, especially in the areas described above and/or those who want to pursue research with a comparative element.
Background
Leonid joined the School of Law in 2022. He previously taught public law and legal philosophy at the Auckland University of Technology (in New Zealand), after obtaining degrees in common and civil law at McGill (in Canada), serving as a law clerk at the Federal Court of Canada, and graduate studies at NYU (in the United States). He is a member of the Law Society of Ontario.
Academic qualifications
LLB/BCL (Hons) (McGill); LLM (Legal Theory) (NYU); JSD (NYU)
Websites/blogs
Leonid is the creator of the Double Aspect blog, which covers (primarily Canadian) public law and related areas. Double Aspect was named the Best Canadian Law Blog in 2014.
Selected publications
- A Written Constitution for Quebec? (forthcoming, 2022, McGill-Queen’s University Press) (editor, with Richard Albert)
- “The Case of the Prorogations and the Political Constitution” (2021) 3 Journal of Commonwealth Law 103
- “A Citizen’s Guide to the Rule of Law” in Peter L. Biro (ed), Constitutional Democracy under Stress: A Time for Heroic Citizenship (2020) 104
- “Originalist Reasoning in Canadian Constitution Jurisprudence”, (2017) 50(2) UBC Law Review 505 (with Benjamin Oliphant)
- “Has the Supreme Court of Canada Rejected ‘Originalism’?” (2016) 42(1) Queen’s Law Journal 107 (with Benjamin Oliphant)
Publications
- Sirota, L. (2023) What is the constitution of cyberspace like?. Diritto Pubblico Comparato ed Europeo ISSN: 1720-4313
- Albert, R. and Sirota, L. , eds. (2023) A written constitution for Quebec?. Democracy, Diversity, and Citizen Engagement Series McGill-Queens University Press pp 352. ISBN: 9780228013853
- Sirota, L. (2022) Purposivism, textualism, and originalism in recent cases on charter interpretation. Queens Law Journal , 47 (1). ISSN: 0316-778X
- Sirota, L. (2021) The case of the prorogations and the political constitution. Journal of Commonwealth Law , 3 (1).
- Sirota, L. (2021) Nouvelle-zélande : les sources d’une constitution pas comme les autres. Annuaire international de justice constitutionnelle , 36 ISSN: 2647-8145
- Sirota, L. (2021) Compelled speech: a conscience - and integrity-based approach. In: Macfarlane, E. , (eds.) Dilemmas of Free Expression. University of Toronto Press , Toronto. ISBN: 9781487529291
- Sirota, L. (2020) How not to decide a Bill of Rights case. New Zealand Law Journal (11). pp. 410-413. ISSN: 0028-8373
- Sirota, L. (2020) Immuring Dicey's ghost: the Senate reform reference and constitutional conventions. Ottawa Law Review , 51 (2). pp. 313-360. ISSN: 1710-6028
- Sirota, L. (2020) Through which glass darkly? Constitutional principle in legality and constitutionality review. Common Law World Review , 49 (2). pp. 131-150. ISSN: 1473-7795 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1473779520927715
- Sirota, L. (2020) A Citizen’s Guide to the Rule of Law. In: Biro, P. , (eds.) Constitutional Democracy Under Stress: A Time For Heroic Citizenship. Mosaic Press ISBN: 9781771614801
- Sirota, L. (2020) Unholy trinity: the failure of administrative constitutionalism in Canada. The Journal of Commonwealth Law , 2 ISSN: 0021-9894
- Sirota, L. (2019) The paradox of simplicity in Canadian administrative law. In: Daly, P. and Sirota, L. , (eds.) Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice Special Issue - A Decade of Dunsmuir / Les 10 ans de Dunsmuir. , 65. Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice: A Decade of Dunsmuir , 65 ISBN: 9780779888139
- Sirota, L. (2019) The Rule of Law All the Way Up. In: Baron, J. and St-Hilaire, M. , (eds.) Attacks on the Rule of Law from Within. Supreme Court Law Review (2d): Supreme Court Law Review (2d) ISBN: 9780433502869
- Sirota, L. (2018) Canadian administrative law and good governance. Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice , 31 (3). pp. 285-305. ISSN: 0835-6742
- Daly, P. and Sirota, L. (2018) Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice Special Issue - A Decade of Dunsmuir / Les 10 ans de Dunsmuir. Carswell ISBN: 9780779888139
- Sirota, L. (2017) Was the Supreme Court right to change the law on the right to a speedy trial?. Constitutional Forum Constitutionelle , 26 (3). pp. 1-6. ISSN: 0847-3889 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.21991/C9FT21
- Sirota, L. (2017) The Supreme court and the conventions of the constitution. The Supreme Court law Review , 78 ISSN: 0225-0108
- Sirota, L. and Oliphant, B. (2017) Originalist reasoning in Canadian constitutional jurisprudence. University of British Columbia Law Review , 50 (2). pp. 505-576. ISSN: 0068-1849 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2749224
- Sirota, L. (2017) More v Roper: a comment on Lawrence Solum’s defence of originalism. DPCE Online , 31 (3). ISSN: 2037-6677
- Sirota, L. (2017) Constitutional dialogue: the New Zealand bill of rights act and the noble dream. New Zealand Universities Law Review , 27 (4A). ISSN: 0549-0618
- Oliphant, B. and Sirota, L. (2016) Has the Supreme Court of Canada rejected 'originalism'?. Queens Law Journal , 42 (1). ISSN: 0316-778X | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2749212
- Sirota, L. (2015) 'Third parties' and democracy 2.0. McGill Law Journal , 60 (2). pp. 253-293. ISSN: 0024-9041
- Sirota, L. and St-Hilaire, M. (2015) Canadian Voter Identification Requirements in a Comparative Perspective. In: Tardi, G. , (eds.) The Informed Citizens' Guide to Elections: Electioneering Based on the Rule of Law. Carswell ISBN: 9780779864645
- Sirota, L. (2014) True allegiance: the citizenship oath and the charter. National Journal of Constitutional Law , 33 (2). ISSN: 1181-9340 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2433711
- Sirota, L. (2013) Storm and havoc: the rule of law and religious exemptions. Revue Juridique Thémis de l'Université de Montréal , 47 (2). pp. 247-317. ISSN: 0380-8327
- Gelinas, F. and Sirota, L. (2013) Constitutional conventions and senate reform. Revue québécoise de droit constitutionnel , 5 pp. 107.
- Sirota, L. (2011) Towards a jurisprudence of constitutional conventions. Oxford University Journal of Commonwealth Law , 11 (1). pp. 29-51. ISSN: 1472-9342 | doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.5235/147293411797394397