This course provides a comprehensive examination of comparative constitutionalism in the developing world, with a focus on the Global South. It aims to give students a deep understanding of the principles, practices, and challenges of constitutional governance within these diverse contexts. The course will examine historical, cultural, and political factors, as well as investigate colonial legacies, democratization processes, and socio-economic conditions to better understand their influence on constitutional design, development, and implementation. Key topics include constitutional making and accommodation, democratic governance, the separation of powers, checks and balances, and the role of constitutional oversight bodies. Through case studies from countries such as Afghanistan, Asia, Africa, and South America, students will analyze various approaches to constitutionalism and the influence of institutional design and power dynamics on constitutional outcomes.
Course or Seminar Category: International Comparative and Transnational Law
Comparative Law: Indigenous Legal Traditions
This seminar will introduce students to non-state Indigenous legal orders. Using a transsystemic pedagogical model and a wide range of reading materials (legal cases, methodology, pedagogy, anthropology, theory) students will critically explore the theories and practices of indigenous legal traditions through analysis and substantive treatment of: indigenous sources of law; oral histories and traditions (as legal archive); legal cases and precedent; modes of reasoning and interpretation; and authority and legitimacy.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
This is a unique Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law course experience that covers a variety of topics through a focus on treaties and a practical experiential-learning based approach to Indigenous rights litigation. This course is designed to simulate real-world legal practice where collaboration is essential for success. Students will work in teams to analyze and prepare a complex legal case as part of a larger group advocacy project. Students who enjoy working with others and sharing ideas are more likely to find this course particularly rewarding.
The course will provide a survey of the procedural and substantive elements of litigating Indigenous rights from the perspective of a lawyer practicing exclusively in this area of law on behalf of First Nation clients and communities. Topics may include but are not limited to: Indigenous laws and governance systems; intersocietal law; history of treaties and treaty relationships; pre-existing Indigenous sovereignty and assumed Crown sovereignty; the honour of the Crown; the colonial doctrines of discovery and terra nullius; settler-colonialism and Indigenous resurgence.
This course consists of weekly lectures and in-class discussions. Evaluation methods encompass in-class quizzes, weekly reading assignments, participation and group work. This course also fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
This course provides a critical survey of state law as it relates to Indigenous peoples and lands in what is now known as Canada.
Topics may include but are not limited to: historical context and constitutional framework; Indigenous law and constitutionalism; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; the Indian Act; the obligations of the federal and provincial governments; and Indigenous identity.
This course fulfills the prerequisite requirement for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
Lectures will be recorded.
Indigenous Peoples and Canadian Law
This course will provide a critical survey of state law as it relates to Indigenous peoples in Canada. The focus will be on the following topics: the historical context and constitutional framework; Aboriginal rights and title; self-government; treaties and treaty rights; and introduction to the Indian Act; and the authority and obligations of the federal and provincial governments.
This course fulfills the prerequisite requirements for the Intensive Program in Indigenous Lands, Resources and Governments.
International Taxation
This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the international dimensions of the Canadian Income Tax Act (ITA), tax treaties, and recent global tax reform measures, enhancing their statutory interpretation and problem-solving skills. The globalization of trade and investment flows profoundly affects the practices and policies of income taxation, particularly for Canadian corporations engaged in international business. Students will explore cross-border tax issues that are critical for Canadian lawyers. The curriculum covers both domestic tax law and international tax treaties, focusing on jurisdiction to tax, non-residents investing in Canada, cross-border services, Canadian investments offshore, the foreign affiliate system, foreign tax credits, electronic commerce, and transfer pricing. By examining case studies and real-world examples, students will develop a comprehensive understanding of how international tax principles are applied in practice.
The course will also address the ongoing international dialogue on tax policy, spurred by initiatives from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the G20. This dialogue aims to identify and deter strategies multinational enterprises use to shift income from high-tax jurisdictions, which can create friction among countries regarding their taxing rights. The course will explore these challenges and potential modifications to tax laws, the role of private and public international law, and the practical responses by multinational enterprises.
International Trade Regulation
This introductory course surveys the laws of international trade regulation from a Canadian perspective. The course focuses on the public international law and domestic public law regimes regulating the conduct of international trade to and from Canada, with a particular focus on the multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO) and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). An additional focus will be on the increasing number of preferential trade agreements relevant to Canada such as the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA, renegotiation of the NAFTA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).
The course has as an express objective of providing all students with some introduction to basic policy aspects of international trade regulation drawn from economic theory, international relations theory, and international legal theory. However, no background is expected of students in terms of prior legal or other disciplinary knowledge (such as economics), just an interest in learning about some relevant policy tools from other disciplines.
Particular trade subjects for discussion include: WTO/GATT treaties and institutions; trade in goods; trade in services; trade and intellectual property; trade and investment; domestic trade remedies such as antidumping and countervail.
This course will also discuss important themes of contemporary international economic relations including the relation of trade to matters of national security and economic sanctions, and the relation of trade to social regulation, such as environmental or labour regulation.
Law and Social Change: Israel/Palestine and International Law
This seminar will examine a wide variety of legal issues raised in the various stages of conflict in Israel/Palestine considered primarily from the perspective of international law. We will survey these issues as they arise in both the occupied Palestinian territory (the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip) as well as within Israel proper. The legal frameworks engaged include international humanitarian law/law of armed conflict, including the law of belligerent occupation, international human rights and international criminal law, as well as Israeli civil and constitutional law. In addition to critically considering how these bodies of law describe, frame and analyze the conflict, we will also consider the implications of these framings for obligations found under the domestic legal systems of third states, including Canada. The course will cover the significant developments in Israel/Palestine, beginning in the early 20th century and extending to the events of October 7th and their aftermath, all through the lens of international law. For each issue, there will be some background readings and then presentation of opposing legal positions. Topics will include the legality of Israel’s policies and practices of occupation; local government, land, water, and education policy; the treatment of the Arab minority in Israel; free trade agreements and the human rights obligations of corporations operating in territory controlled by Israel; the historical and contemporary role of the United Nations in overseeing the conflict; counterterrorism and counterinsurgency law and policy; the right of resistance, self-determination and state recognition; allegations of state responsibility for genocide as well as state and non-state actors’ individual criminal liability for various international crimes, including at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice.
Emerging Technologies: Law, Policy and Governance
Established technologies like the internet and social and emerging ones like artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics, are transforming how we live, work, and interact. These changes raise a host of complex law, policy, ethical, and governance challenges in a range of domestic and global contexts, including internet censorship, the role and regulation of social media platforms, disinformation and online abuse, legal automation, algorithmic discrimination, privacy, surveillance, fintech, and cyber-warfare. Among the kinds of questions pursued in this course: Who is responsible when technology causes harms? Do we have to forego privacy for either technological innovation or security? How best to regulate social media, if at all? What can we do to prevent algorithmic discrimination and other forms of technology-enabled human rights abuse? What is “ethical” AI and how can we incentivize it?
These issues and other significant challenges and controversies in the law, policy, and governance of emerging technologies will be contextualized and brought to life via case-studies and real world scenarios involving issues that are often currently in the news and unfolding in real time outside the classroom in government, industry, and civil society. The course aims to introduce and provide a foundation in law and technology issues — to identify them, understand and think critically about them, and manage them in practice.
Globalization & the Law
Globalization is both a material and conceptual process that acts on and through the law. This seminar critically positions questions of the ‘global’ in conversation with the idea of law, legality and legal thought. Taking a historical approach, we will investigate how legal institutions and concepts evolved, travelled, and were transplanted across the globe in response to specific economic and political events and pressures. Students will critically engage with the process of ‘globalization’ to explore how power is distributed through law across hegemonic and oppressed legal jurisdictions. With an eye towards social and liberation movements, we will explore the extent to which global, local and ‘glocal’ law can be relied on to advance – and restrict – emancipatory projects. Finally, we will look at the recent turn to populism across the world to ask how and why nationalism has been one response to global interconnectedness and ideas of justice.
This seminar will be delivered using a combination of teaching methods including class discussions; mini-lectures; in-class exercises and guest lectures.