Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut
If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail, but if all you have is a circuit court what happens to the administration of justice? This paper explores the history and contemporary usages of the itinerant ‘circuit court’ in the Canadian Arctic. Presenting the circuit court as a technolog...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Windsor
2018-05-01
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| Series: | The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |
| Online Access: | https://wyaj.uwindsor.ca/index.php/wyaj/article/view/5787 |
| _version_ | 1797710637319585792 |
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| author | David Matyas |
| author_facet | David Matyas |
| author_sort | David Matyas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | If all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail, but if all you have is a circuit court what happens to the administration of justice? This paper explores the history and contemporary usages of the itinerant ‘circuit court’ in the Canadian Arctic. Presenting the circuit court as a technology of justice, the paper explores why and how this instrument has been employed and the possibilities it constrains. Looking to the challenges of administering justice in contemporary Nunavut, the paper argues that a different type of technology may be needed: One that facilitates work, rather than exercises control; allows for specialized outcomes in place of compliant results; and that focusses on the growth of justice instead of products that are just. The paper concludes by exploring the local, sedentary, judge-based system of Greenland—steeped in its civilian procedural law—as a compelling alternative technology to the circuit court in Nunavut. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:55:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-68b73533c5bd436d99f7a3f02449b3e4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2561-5017 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T06:55:04Z |
| publishDate | 2018-05-01 |
| publisher | University of Windsor |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |
| spelling | doaj.art-68b73533c5bd436d99f7a3f02449b3e42023-09-03T00:05:45ZengUniversity of WindsorThe Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice2561-50172018-05-013510.22329/wyaj.v35i0.5787Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in NunavutDavid MatyasIf all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail, but if all you have is a circuit court what happens to the administration of justice? This paper explores the history and contemporary usages of the itinerant ‘circuit court’ in the Canadian Arctic. Presenting the circuit court as a technology of justice, the paper explores why and how this instrument has been employed and the possibilities it constrains. Looking to the challenges of administering justice in contemporary Nunavut, the paper argues that a different type of technology may be needed: One that facilitates work, rather than exercises control; allows for specialized outcomes in place of compliant results; and that focusses on the growth of justice instead of products that are just. The paper concludes by exploring the local, sedentary, judge-based system of Greenland—steeped in its civilian procedural law—as a compelling alternative technology to the circuit court in Nunavut.https://wyaj.uwindsor.ca/index.php/wyaj/article/view/5787 |
| spellingShingle | David Matyas Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut The Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice |
| title | Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut |
| title_full | Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut |
| title_fullStr | Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut |
| title_short | Short Circuit: A Failing Technology for Administering Justice in Nunavut |
| title_sort | short circuit a failing technology for administering justice in nunavut |
| url | https://wyaj.uwindsor.ca/index.php/wyaj/article/view/5787 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT davidmatyas shortcircuitafailingtechnologyforadministeringjusticeinnunavut |