Fonds consists of six accessions of records documenting the life of Martin L. Friedland, as a student, professor of law and administrator at the University of Toronto; as an expert on legal matters and a contributor to the formation of public policy at the provincial and federal levels; and as an author of several books and numerous articles, in particular the researching and writing of his book University of Toronto: A History (University of Toronto Press, 2002 & 2013).

See accession-level descriptions for further details.

Professor Friedland was asked by the Centre of Criminology and the Faculty of Law to give the John Edwards Memorial Lecture for 2003. This provided an opportunity to write an early draft of his memoirs, My Life in Crime and Other Academic Adventures, which he had been thinking about writing since finishing the University of Toronto history project. Over the summer he did a very long version of the lecture (the final count was over 37,000 words, with earlier drafts of around 25,000 words.) Then, for the lecture itself, he made a shorter version of about 15,000 words, followed by a much shorter version that could be delivered in 40 minutes or so. The article that appeared in the Criminal Law Quarterly was a somewhat revised version of the 15,000 word paper and was not the lecture as delivered. These files contain correspondence, notes, and drafts of the lecture, which was somewhat altered for Professor Friedland’s 2004 Life Learning lecture. The versions adapted for the Criminal Law Quarterly article appear in Series 5.

Some post-2003 addresses in B2014-0029 and B2020-0008 appear in Series 5 and 7, where they were placed by Professor Friedland.

The first section of this series documents some of Professor Friedland’s activities regarding books and articles published before 2003, with updated files carried forward to 2013. While more extensive files pre-2003 writings are found in Series 5 of accession B2002-0023, the articles are found only in the accessions documented in this finding aid, B2003-0008 and B2014-0029.

The remainder of the series concentrates on several projects and their spin-off articles: Professor Friedland’s Detention Before Trial (1965), a study of the bail system; A Place Apart: Judicial Independence and Accountability in Canada (1995); ‘Access to the Law’ project, a major internet attempt to make law more accessible; the first and second editions (2003 and 2013) of his University of Toronto: A History; several articles published in Criminal Law Quarterly including ‘Criminal Justice in Canada Revisited’ (2004), ‘Searching for the Truth in the Criminal Justice System’ (2014), ‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Does It Apply to Finding the Law’ (2015), and ‘Reflections on Criminal Justice Reform in Canada’ (2017); his memoirs, My Life in Crime and Other Academic Adventures (2007); his introductions to University of Toronto: The Campus Guide: An Architectural Tour (2010) and the 2014 republication of W. P. M. Kennedy’s The Constitution of Canada; and his Searching for W. P. M. Kennedy: the Biography of an Enigma (2020).

The ‘Access to the Law’ project, a follow-up on his 1975 book with the same title, did not go forward. The files document Professor Friedland’s efforts to realize the project, including lining up support, looking for a field for ideas on implementation, and his failure to convince the Mike Harris government to support it financially. Also included is a digital copy of the internet project.

The files on The University of Toronto: A History, written for the University’s 175th anniversary, complement those found in B2002-0022 relating to the first edition. They document not the writing of the book itself, but its launch and promotion, especially through Professor Friedland’s talks to University alumni groups across Canada and in selected cities in the United States, at conferences, and also through an exhibition in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Also documented are individual readers’ comments on the book, including references to errors and suggestions for inclusions in any future editions. The correspondence, notes, memoranda, programmes, slides and photographs detail the issues that arose and how they were resolved. Some of Professor Friedland’s talks relating to this project are found in Series 8: Addresses.

The second edition (2013) incorporated a new introduction and corrections. Notes for and drafts of it are present here, along with promotional material, reviews, and an interview with Steve Paikin of TV Ontario. The correspondence with individuals to whom Professor Friedland sent drafts for feedback includes incisive comments and new material provided by many of them. Professor Friedland detailed his conversations with, in particular, senior administrators: Donald Ainslie, Christina Amon, Meric Gertler, Paul Gooch, George Luste, Scott Maybury, Cheryl Misak, Mayo Moran, David Naylor, Julia O’Sullivan, Robert Prichard, Deep Siani, Shaun Shepherd, Elizabeth Sisam, Franco Vaccarino, Catherine Whiteside, and Paul Young. He also created additional files on many of the academic and administrative divisions in the University; these parallel those found in accession B1998-0022 relating to the writing of The University of Toronto: A History.

The research, writing, and publication of Professor Friedland’s memoirs is documented in detail, including the hiring of research assistants and the reports they presented, the numerous drafts of the volume, and the negotiations with University of Toronto Press and the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History over its publication, distribution, and promotion. At the same time as he was starting work on his memoirs, Professor Friedland was asked to give the John Edwards Memorial Lecture for 2003, which was presented as ‘Criminal justice in Canada revisited’ and published under the same title. Most of the files relating to this project are in Series 8: Addresses, but those relating to its publication in the Criminal Law Quarterly are in this series. The publication was a somewhat revised version of a 15,000 word paper he prepared for the Lecture but not delivered.

The files on Professor Friedland’s introduction to the 2014 republication of W. P. M. Kennedy’s The Constitution of Canada by Oxford Press documents each stage of the project from its inception when Oxford Press reached out to Friedland to its publication and beyond including drafts, correspondence related to feedback before and after publication, and listings and reviews of the final product. After the publication of the introduction, Professor Friedland continued on to give several talks and write an extended biography on W. P. M. Kennedy.

The files related to Professor Friedland’s biography, Searching for W.P.M. Kennedy: The Biography of an Enigma (2020) primarily document the research, writing, and publication of his book through research notes; correspondence with research assistants, archivists, colleagues, and the U of T Press; funding applications; photographs; and drafts.

In addition to a number of files on articles, derived from the above projects, are other files dealing with various aspects of criminal law in Canada.

The correspondence files at the beginning of this series -- with three deans of Law in the 1980s and the 1990s and Professor Friedland’s stint as acting dean in 1995 – contain assorted letters not received earlier in B2003-0023. The remaining correspondence documents activities mostly from 2003 on, especially relating to the painting of his portrait, his contribution to the revitalizing the site of the Faculty’s buildings and the construction of a new one, and his interest in student and faculty publications.

The most significant files in the remainder of the series document Professor Friedland’s lecturing in the Faculty of Law and Woodsworth College from 2001 on, his involvement in an aspect of the Sher inquiry (the Nancy Oliveri case), and his advice in developing a student code of conduct at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

The correspondence files in this series are arranged alphabetically by author and concentrate on the years 2002 onwards. (Earlier correspondence from this series is found in accession B2002-0023.) The letters, notes, cards, programmes, drafts of articles, and press clippings document Professor Friedland’s activities as a friend, as a colleague assisting in honours bestowed on his peers, as an author, and as an authority on legal matters. They also document the increased leisure that came with official retirement.

The wide range of material in the files includes correspondence, notes, grant applications, legal documents, press clippings; and drafts of articles, chapters of books, addresses (including convocation addresses), with a few offprints; and at least one play. There are also numerous greeting cards, including some with reproductions of paintings by Roy McMurtry. Some of the letters have photographs attached to them, and images of individuals are also reproduced in other formats.

The correspondence touches on many aspects of Professor Friedland’s life, both personal and professional and reflects the enormous network of contacts in legal and academic circles that he had built up over the years. The files cover a wide range of issues that he has been researching, including gun control, justice independence, court mergers, and access to the law, and others that he had been discussing with his colleagues, such as international terrorism (for example, see the files on Stanley Cohen). In the same vein, Professor Friedland was periodically contacted for his views on court cases. Although officially retired, he continued to be consulted about University of Toronto policies and appointments, and still received requests for references from students and colleagues. Because he sat on the manuscript review committee of the University of Toronto Press, he continued to evaluate manuscripts and to critique manuscripts otherwise forwarded to him. He periodically hired law students as research assistants and assisted them (and other students) as they started their careers. In addition to correspondence on these activities, there are also letters of congratulation and of reference, and correspondence on trips taken. The files contain numerous invitations, with accompanying programmes and related material, to dinners, installations and other events, and tributes to deceased friends and colleagues.

The files document honours bestowed on Professor Friedland between 1958 and 2014. They are certificates and awards related to the publication of his The University of Toronto: A History, his LL.B from University of Toronto (1958); his enrolment as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Canada (1960); his appointment as a full-time member of the Law Reform Commission of Canada (1971); his appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada (1991) and his promotion to Companion of the Order of Canada (2003); the Molson Prize, awarded by the Canada Council (1995); the Dawson Medal, awarded by the Royal Society of Canada (2003), and four honorary doctorates from the University of Toronto (2001), York University (2003), Humber College (2009), and the Law Society of Upper Canada (2014).

Of these awards, only one (U of T) is documented elsewhere; in B2002-0023, where there is more documentation than in this series. There are photographs with no honorary doctorate from Cambridge University (1997). The photograph accompanying his Alumni of Influence Award remains with the textual material.

The series contains correspondence, memoranda, minutes of meetings, programmes, photographs, certificates, convocation addresses and press coverage. The arrangement of the files is in chronological order of the honour bestowed.