Faculty of Law

David Ireland

Biography

Professor Ireland was called to the Manitoba Bar in 2011. A graduate of Robson Hall, his legal practice in criminal law has included both defence and prosecution work. Professor Ireland has also been involved in public interest legal work concerning inquests, public inquiries and human rights. In 2016 Professor Ireland was appointed to the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba where he teaches criminal law and procedure, evidence law and advocacy. His research program centres on improving the delivery of criminal justice in Canada. His work interrogates the complexities of state/citizen interactions and aims to lead positive policy change to improve equality and fairness in the criminal justice process.

News and stories

Research Areas

Professor Ireland has developed a focussed program of research which centres on improving the delivery of criminal justice in Canada. He is a co-editor of the Manitoba Law Journal annual special edition in criminal law as well as an editor of the criminal law research website, robsoncrim.com. Professor Ireland believes strongly in collaborative and intersectional research that crosses academic disciplines and directly involves the legal community and citizenry. His research program interrogates the complexities of state/citizen interactions and aims to lead positive policy change to improve equality and fairness in the criminal justice process in Canada.

Professor Ireland is currently a co-investigator in three SSHRC-funded research projects all of which focus on the mechanics of the criminal justice system: Understanding Justice: Jury Comprehension of Canadian Judicial Charges in the Criminal Law; Jury Representativeness in Canada: Representative or Not; and Impervious to Change? A Mixed Methods Analysis of Criminal Sexual Assault Complaint Attrition Rates. He also researches in the area of common law police powers and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as it pertains to the delivery of criminal justice in Canada. He is the co-author of the UBC Press book Privacy in Peril: Hunter v. Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections and is the principal investigator on Common Law Police Powers in Canada – Judicial Creation in the Charter Era, a research project funded by the Canadian Bar Association.

Selected Publications

Books

Richard Jochelson & David Ireland, Privacy in Peril: Hunter v. Southam and the Drift from Reasonable Search Protections (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019)

Book Chapters and Contributions

David Ireland, Considering Judicial Behaviour and Language in Sexual Assault Trials in Sexual Regulation and the Law: A Canadian Perspective, Jochelson and Gacek ed. (2019)

David Ireland, Richard Jochelson and Taylor Stoesz, Case by Case Privilege in Canada: Framework, Trends and Futures in Perspectives on Evidentiary Privileges, Christopher Hunt ed. (2019)

Richard Jochelson, David Ireland, et al, Instructor-Student Sexual Misconduct: The Fraught Silences of Liminal Policy Spaces at Canadian Universities in Violence Interrupted, Diane Crocker et al ed. (2020)

Journal Articles

  • David Ireland, “Bargaining for Expedience: The Overuse of Joint Recommendations on Sentence” Manitoba Law Journal, Volume 38 (2016)

  • Richard Jochelson and David Ireland, “Law Students’ Responses to Innovation: A Study of Perspectives in Respect of Digital Knowledge Transmission, Flipped Classrooms, Video Capsules and Other Means of Classroom Dissemination” Underneath the Golden Boy (MLJ), Volume 41, Number 1 (2018)

  • Richard Jochelson, David Ireland et al, “Generation and Development of Common Law Police Powers by Canadian Courts and the Double-Edged Charter” Critical Criminology (International Journal) Crit Crim DOI 10.1007/s10612-020-09491-8 (2020)

  • Richard Jochelson, Michelle Bertrand, David Ireland et al “Propensities for Guilt and the Canadian Criminal Jury; Jury Eligible Participant Studies Across Three Charging Scenarios and Three Fact Patterns” Criminal Law Quarterly (CLQ), Volume 68, Number 2 (2020)

  • Richard Jochelson, James Gacek & David Ireland, “Reconsidering Legal Pedagogy: Assessing Trigger Warnings, Evaluative Instruments, and Articling Integration in Canada’s Modern Law School Curricula” Manitoba Law Journal, Volume 44 (2020)

  • Michelle Bertrand, Richard Jochelson, David Ireland et al, “We Have Centuries of Work Undone by a Few Bone-heads”- A Review of Jury History and a Present Snapshot of Crown and Defence Counsel Perspectives on Bill C-75’s Elimination of Peremptory Challenges and Representativeness Issues” Manitoba Law Journal, volume 44 (2020)

Edited Collections

  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Khoday & Ireland eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 40, number 3 (2017)

  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland & Khoday eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 41, number 3 (2018)

  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland & Khoday eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 41, number 4 (2018)
  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland & Bromwich eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 42, number 3 (2019)
  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland & Bromwich eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 42, number 4 (2019)
  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland, Bromwich & Gacek eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 43, number 3 (2020)
  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland, Bromwich & Gacek eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 43, number 4 (2020)
  • Manitoba Law Journal: Criminal Law Edition (Jochelson, Ireland, Bromwich & Gacek eds.) Manitoba Law Journal, special edition, volume 43, number 5 (2020)

Community Involvement

David is a frequent presenter in the criminal justice community, speaking at conferences for judges, lawyers and law enforcement officers. Below is a list of presentations he has given in the community most recently:

Presentation to Manitoba Court of Appeal & Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Judiciary - 2019
Presented (1 hour) Bill C-51: Legislative Changes Concerning the Law of Sexual Offences

Public Prosecution Service Canada Education Session - 2019
Policy and Practicality: Perspectives on Interpreting and Applying s.718.2(e)

Provincial Court Judges Education Day (Winnipeg) - 2018
Presented (1 hour) 2018 criminal law case review – Supreme Court of Canada and Manitoba Court of Appeal.

Criminal Defence Lawyers Association of Manitoba Annual Conference (Winnipeg) - 2018
Presented (1 hour) 2018 criminal law case review – Supreme Court of Canada and Manitoba Court of Appeal.

Manitoba Association of Police Chief’s Conference (Winnipeg) - 2018
Presented (1 hour) criminal law cases from Appellate courts with implications for law enforcement.

Manitoba Crown – Defence Conference (Winnipeg) - 2017
Presented (1 hour) “Criminal Case Law Review: Supreme Court of Canada & Manitoba Court of Appeal, Oct 1, 2016-Oct31, 2017”. com [CPD Eligible, Law Society of Manitoba] The research was blogged and posted to robsoncrim.

Continuing Legal Education – Provincial Government Legal Services Branch (Winnipeg) - 2017
Presented on Inquest and Inquiry process (Provincial and Federal) and recent legislative updates with Jim Koch, Counsel, Legal Service Branch, Manitoba Justice. [CPD Eligible, Law Society of Manitoba]

Manitoba Bar Association, Criminal Justice Section (Winnipeg) - 2016
Sentencing Research Resources and the Impact on Joint Recommendations of R v. Anthony-Cook 2016 SCC 43

Manitoba Crown Attorney Conference (Winnipeg) - 2016
Presented paper: “Plea Bargaining: History, Theory and Ethics.” This paper was specially prepared for the conference.