The 1982 adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ushered in a revolution as Canadians worked through the courts to put the document into practice. Central to this rights revolution was the Court Challenges Program, which gave ordinary citizens access to funding and legal expertise, says Emmanuelle Richez.

A professor of political science and the 2022-23 fellow of the Humanities Research Group, she will discuss the program in her lecture “The Court Challenges Program: A Powerful Tool for Constitutional Change in Canada,” on Thursday, March 23.

Dr. Richez is involved in several research projects examining law and politics in Canada, with a focus on official language rights, and is writing a book on the history and impact of the Court Challenges Program of Canada, where she serves as is a federally appointed member of its Official Languages Rights Expert Panel.

Thursday’s event is free and open to the public; it begins at 5 p.m. in the Performance Hall, SoCA Armouries, 37 University Ave. East.