LAW 3010 TEMPLATE FOR TERM PAPERS – ESSAY FORMAT
1. Cover page containing: title of work; author(s) name(s) and student ID number;
course name and number; date submitted.
2. Introduction containing: (a) the main question(s) to be addressed in the paper;
(b) why the question(s) is (are) important; (c) reference to the context of the
question(s), that is, the broader legal or social issues to which it is (they are)
relevant; (d) a summary of the evidence that you will be considering and from
where it has been obtained; (e) a summary of the arguments you will be using;
(f) a summary of the conclusion(s) you will reach.
3. Body of the paper; This should contain a statement of the question(s) to be
considered, why the questions are important; for example an essay on the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms should indicate what the Charter is and
how and why it is significant to Canadian law and society in protecting basic
human rights and freedoms against abuse by legislators and governments;
Most questions can be looked at from different perspectives and points of view.
Your essay should identify such different perspectives and points of view. If there
are many, do not necessarily consider all of them in detail. Just mention the
different possible perspectives and then focus on perhaps two main perspectives.
For example, some people consider the Charter an infringement of democratic
freedoms because it permits unelected judges to override the decisions of elected
politicians. Others see the Charter as a protection of democratic freedoms by
protecting minorities against abuse by politicians more concerned with re-election
by the electorate than with basic rights of minorities.
In addressing the sample issue above, you should identify cases, expert opinions
etc. that support the different points of view. The sources of such opinions, cases
etc. should be referred to in the text using footnotes (or endnotes) identifying the
author(s) and the publication(s) or cases in which they appear.
You should describe and weigh the different evidence and arguments supporting
the different opinions or points of view on the issues considered. You should take
a position on the relative strength of the evidence and arguments introduced in the
paper. This should depend on qualifications and reputation of the sources of the
opinions. You may find the evidence and arguments have equal weight. That is an
acceptable conclusion.
It is best practice to state the question, list the nature and source of the evidence
relevant to the question, then provide the arguments supporting particular points
of view. That is, try to separate the evidence from the argument in the body
of the paper.
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It is important to use sections and subsections to organize your evidence and
arguments. For example, you might have a section entitled “1. History of the
Charter” organized into subsections (a), (b) and (c) based on different section
of the Charter. This makes it easier for the reader and helps you to organize your
thoughts.
4. Conclusion Your conclusion should contain a summary of the evidence and the
arguments. You should state your conclusions on the matter clearly. If the paper is
a group paper, there may be differences of opinion between or among the authors.
This is healthy and you should identify such differences. Always give reasons for
your opinions.
In the conclusion, you may also identify further questions raised by your paper.
You may suggest how and why such questions might be tackled by others.
5. Bibliography Provide at the end of the essay provide full information on each
book, article, website or other work from which you obtained opinions, evidence
or argument. You MUST cite the sources of your information, ideas, etc. in
your bibliography. Failure to do so is academic misconduct and subject to
penalties, deductions in marks or, in extreme cases, expulsion from the
University. Websites must be cited in full and include the names of authors if
given. If opinions are anonymous, they carry much less weight. Do not
assume that opinions are authoritative just because they appear on the
internet. This depends on the reputation, qualifications and ability of the
persons and organizations making the statements.
It is useful to separate lists of legal cases (which must be cited in full) from
articles/books/websites etc.
6. Appendices Sometimes it is useful to include in an appendix some material that
you have relied upon as evidence. Only do so if it is not too long and if the reader
would benefit from reading the entire work. While it is preferable to quote from
such works in the body of your paper, the reader may benefit from reading the
broader context of the quotation(s).
PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU REQUIRE CLARIFICATION OR MORE
INFORMATION.
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