4b: Rights and Responsibilities

Human Rights & the Law

Online Resources

BC Federation of Labour
This website offers telephone and web contact information for leading rights-related services in British Columbia, including but not limited to workplace and employment rights service organizations.

BC Human Rights Coalition. Know your rights: Interacting with security guards that patrol property
This website raises awareness and enhances public knowledge about rights and responsibilities when interacting with security guards who patrol property that is open to the public.

Canada’s Court System
This website provides an overview of Canada’s court system.

Canadian Human Rights Commission
This website provides an overview of the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

Courts of BC
This website links to the home site of the three levels of courts in BC.

Courts of BC Educational Website
Developed by the Justice Education Society, with funding provided by The Law Foundation of BC, this site provides educational information about the Courts of British Columbia.

Canadian Heritage
This website includes a guide to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, teacher’s manual and learner book about rights.

Dial-a-Law Audio Scripts
This site offers audio scripts on a number of criminal cases and court proceedings. These scripts can be long and the speech can be quick, so teachers will want to plan carefully, and perhaps play only small sections of each script.

John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights
This NGO offers a good website with information on human rights, both internationally and in Canada. It includes biographical information on John Humphrey, the Canadian who co-drafted the United Nations’ Declaration of Human Rights. Resources include key human rights documents written in simplified language and human rights curricular materials. These are available for purchase at a modest price.

Learning about the Law: British Columbia’s Laws and Legal System (and Teachers Guide)
The teacher’s guide has lesson plans and worksheets for each chapter. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of BC law from paying taxes to criminal law. These books can be accessed at no cost from the People’s Law School website.

Parliament of Canada. Our Country/Our Parliament, Section I: The Road to Democracy
This webpage offers handouts and activities to help people learn about human rights and their entrenchment in the Canadian Charter of Human Rights. It is deemed suitable for ESL learners at a high school grade 9 level so it should be suitable for adult ESL learners. Learners progress from activities to draft personal rights charters to a consideration of entrenched charters.

Print Resources

50 One-minute Tips for Better Communication. Bozek, P.E. Mississauga, ON: Thomson Course Technology/Crisp Learning. (1998).
This book Includes tips and strategies for improving non-verbal communication

Discover Canada: Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship. Citizenship and Immigration Canada Ottawa, ON: (2012).
This booklet is the study guide for the new Canadian Citizenship test and has some good information in it. It is a good resource to introduce into the classroom as most learners need to become familiar with it in preparation for their citizenship test

Online Resources

Justice Education Society: Learning about the Law.
Learning About the Law uses simple wording to teach learners with middle-to-upper level English as a Second Language skills about their legal rights and responsibilities in British Columbia.

Ontario Justice Education Network: ESL Criminal Law Mock Trial Scenario: R. Vs. Lee

This website’s resources offer an example of a mock trial scenario developed for ESL learners in Ontario. It is useful to see the various scaffolds, handouts, and supports the writers developed for the task. The resources include an instructor’s manual called Making the Case: A Mock Trial Toolkit.

Open University: Starting with Law: An Overview of the Law
This website introduces learners to the key figures in law making in the UK and provide some helpful tips on study techniques.

Supreme Court of Canada
This site has many exciting teaching tools and resources, including virtual tours of the court.

Supreme Court of Canada. Resources for Teachers: Mock Trial
This website is intended gives instructions for a game created to make the legal process more accessible to school groups. Many formalities have been omitted, such as having the witnesses swear an oath and requiring the jury to reach a unanimous verdict. It was last updated March 31, 2011.