Welcome to Law Day

Law Day is a national event celebrating the signing of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Originated by the Canadian Bar Association and first held in Canada in 1983, Law Day is aimed at educating and informing the public about the role and importance of the law and the justice system. Law Day enhances the public’s understanding of the law, the role of lawyers and judges and empowers the public at large.

The OBA annually celebrates Law Day with three main programs: Elementary School Mock Trials (ESMT), OBA-OJEN Competitive and Alternative Mock Trials (OOCMT), and Your ChARTer. Please click on each program for more information.

For 2021, we have modified our Law Day Program to ensure it delivers the same engaging and valuable learning experience it always has while keeping safety paramount in our new reality. We are excited to be offering on-demand videos, the Your ChARTer contest, and a virtual modified Mock Trial Program (OOCMT) through our continued partnership with OJEN. Although this year will be a little different, we are confident that we can provide an exciting and inspiring virtual program for students that will give them insight and understanding of our justice system.

ESMT ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS MOCK TRIALS

The Elementary School Mock Trials (ESMT) is a free program offered by the Ontario Bar Association (OBA). This program can accommodate students from Grades 5 – 8.

This year we are offering teachers and students on-demand short video segments featuring a diverse range of the OBA’s volunteer lawyers, who provide age-appropriate overviews of key Charter and justice sector themes, including the history and ongoing importance of the Charter, a career as a lawyer, simple procedural courtroom examples, and pro-tips from art experts on capturing justice and the Charter in art. These tools will be available to teachers to download from our website, to help you incorporate elements of the history of the Charter into your curriculum.

OOCMT OBA-OJEN Competitive and Alternative Mock Trials

This secondary program is a partnership between the Ontario Bar Association (OBA), Ontario Bar Association Foundation, and the Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN). The OBA and OJEN joined forces in 2014 to expand the program to more schools and communities across the province. This program can accommodate students from Grade 9-12

YOUR CHARTER CREATIVE ARTS COMPETITION

The OBA’s “Your ChARTer 2021 Program” invites Ontario students to submit a visual, written, or creative piece of work that represents the core principles of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and what it means to them. It offers students and/or classes an opportunity to use their imaginations and engage in artistic expression by exploring the impact of the Charter in an online art and writing competition. The contest is open to all Ontario students in Grades 5 – 12, who may participate as a class, group, or as individuals. Deadline for submissions are Saturday, May 15th, 2021

This year we are pleased to have the opportunity to join forces with the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO), who will share their expertise on the different mediums of art and how we express ourselves using art by way of an educational video.

Show us your best form of creativity by submitting a piece of your visual, written or media work, to complete this idea for this years theme:

“ What freedom and equality under the Charter look like to me…”