Canada is often lauded as a model democracy that values the constitutional rights of its citizens. So when over a thousand people – most of whom were peaceful protesters or hapless bystanders – were violently arrested and then detained without charge during the G20 Summit in Toronto in 2010, many Canadians felt shock and outrage. Putting the State on Trial: The Policing of Protest during the G20 Summit examines the political, social, and economic conditions that “allowed” the policing of the summit to culminate in human and civil rights violations. Written by a multi-disciplinary group of scholars and legal practitioners, this book contextualizes events before, during, and after the summit from a range of perspectives. Although the G20 protests serve as a point of departure in every chapter, the contributing authors engage with larger questions about the control of dissent, the impact of the securitization and internationalization of Canadian politics, the implications of legal uncertainty, and the accountability vacuum.

Margaret E. Beare is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology and the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University.

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Nathalie Des Rosiers is president of the Law Commission of Canada and a professor of law at the University of Ottawa. Professor Des Rosiers is a former president of the Association des juristes d'expression francaise de l'Ontario and of the Canadian Association of Law Teachers. She was a member of the Environmental Appeal Board from 1998–2000 and a member of the Ontario Law Reform Commission from 1993–1996.

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