Monday, June 3, 2024

Kate Mitchell

Kate Mitchell, a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law, is among the 16 doctoral students chosen as 2024 Scholars of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. They represent 12 institutions from across Canada as well as the universities of Stanford and Oxford.

The foundation provides generous funding for early-stage researchers to develop solutions that will benefit Canadians and communities in other parts of the world. The foundation received 450 applications from 40 universities in Canada and 60 universities worldwide.

Mitchell’s current research looks at how to develop a legal framework to protect the rule of law in prisons. Her doctoral supervisor is University Professor David Dyzenhaus, who was awarded a Gold Medal by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for contributions to legal philosophy and defending the rule of law.

As a volunteer with Canadian Prison Law Association, Mitchell has prepared intervention submissions for two cases that went before the Supreme Court of Canada and various submissions responding to legislation impacting prisoners’ rights. She also appeared before the Senate on behalf of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association on a prisoners’ rights bill. The fellowship will enable her to become a leader in criminal justice reform.

"I am delighted that the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation has chosen to recognize Kate Mitchell’s research on criminal justice reform,” said University Professor Jutta Brunnée, Dean of the Faculty of Law and James Marshall Tory Dean’s Chair. “We truly have an exceptional graduate cohort, and we couldn’t be prouder of Kate having been selected as a foundation scholar."

Professor Malcolm Thorburn, a member Mitchell's graduate committee, was also named 2024 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellow.

Read more about the Trudeau Foundation Scholars