Law Commons^™

Law, Labour And Landscape In A Just Transition, Adrian A. Smith, Dayna Nadine Scott

Articles & Book Chapters

Taking conflicts over new solar energy projects on the agricultural landscape in the global North as its backdrop, the chapter demonstrates how work and labour (including that performed in the North by workers from the global South) are erased both by the opponents and the proponents of such projects. The erasure is consistent with prevailing ways of knowing the human-environment nexus, shaped by an underlying political economy derivative of how international law has constructed and maintained the foundational liberal mythology that separates labour from land. Grounded in our commitment to pursuing a ‘just transition’ to decarbonisation – that is to …

Geographical Indications And Development In The Third World: Towards A Strategic Approach Of Intellectual Property Rights In Jamaica - The Case Of Blue Mountain Coffee, Marsha Simone Cadogan

PhD Dissertations

The dissertation is a critical analysis of, and engagement with agricultural and food based geographical indications, the politics of development and international relations, and the prospects of forming reformist linkages between geographical indications and development in Jamaica and the Caribbeans intellectual property landscape. A net importer of intellectual property, Jamaica has yet to fully claim intellectual property as its own.

The dissertation proposes that geographical indication schemes should be envisaged, and practically function as part of Jamaicas development policy. This approach calls for a reformist approach to intellectual property in Jamaica, which includes an awareness of the pitfalls of being …

Confronting (In)Security: Forging Legitimate Approaches To Security And Exclusion In Migration Law, Angus Gavin Grant

PhD Dissertations

Perceived connections between security concerns and migration are a central preoccupation of our time. This dissertation explores how the preoccupation has played out in the Canadian context and asserts that a basic and common infirmity of administrative decision-making in this domain is a lack of justification. The dissertation commences by exploring foundational debates within immigration theory about borders, exclusion, the rule of law and the role of justification in decision-making in liberal democracies, particularly in times of perceived emergency. From there, the dissertation moves on to an exploration of immigration inadmissibility determinations in Canada, with particular attention to the emergence …

Through The Looking Glass: Transparency In The Wto, Maria Panezi

PhD Dissertations

This thesis discusses transparency as a principle in the World Trade Organization. Transparency is used in many contexts within the organization in order to describe phenomena ranging from Agreement provisions to soft law or general principle and from the obligation of member states to publish national trade laws to civil society participation in the WTO. I argue that they all these transparency variations are linked as they relate to the organization’s democratization potential.

This thesis has three goals: First, it offers an overview of scholarship discussing legitimacy problems in the WTO. Second, it describes, assesses and offers ideas for improvement …

The Globalization Of Crime Control: The Use Of Non-Criminal Justice Responses For Countering Organized Crime, Bjarni Halldor Sigursteinsson

LLM Theses

This thesis examines domestic authorities’ use of non-criminal justice responses to counter organized crime. Examples of responses used to counter outlaw motorcycle gangs in Canada, Germany, and Iceland are provided. These responses are significantly different from most international efforts focusing on criminal norms and cooperation in criminal matters.

As harmonization of legislation, policies and practices in this field become an international focus, I examine the role currently played by the European Union in promoting these non-criminal justice 'alternative' enforcement strategies for the purpose of furthering the development of international and domestic efforts to counter organized crime.

This study concludes that …

Reputational Privacy And The Internet: A Matter For Law?, Elizabeth Anne Kirley

PhD Dissertations

Reputation - we all have one. We do not completely comprehend its workings and are mostly unaware of its import until it is gone. When we lose it, our traditional laws of defamation, privacy, and breach of confidence rarely deliver the vindication and respite we seek due, primarily, to legal systems that cobble new media methods of personal injury onto pre-Internet laws. This dissertation conducts an exploratory study of the relevance of law to loss of individual reputation perpetuated on the Internet. It deals with three interrelated concepts: reputation, privacy, and memory. They are related in that the increasing lack …

Migrant Construction And Domestic Workers In The Arab Gulf States: Modern - Day Slaves?, Omaya Chidiac

LLM Theses

This thesis examines the conditions of migrant construction and domestic workers in the Arab Gulf. I explore literatures on migrant labour, precariousness, and slavery. I also look at international and domestic legal instruments as well as data produced by several human rights organizations. This thesis shows how the mechanisms involved in the migration of migrant construction and domestic workers exacerbate vulnerability and precariousness. I examine the ways in which social locations including gender and race play a role in discrimination against migrant construction and domestic workers in the Arab Gulf, thus assisting conditions of slavery to arise. My aim is …

Responsibility To Protect (R2p), The Responsibility Of The International Community To Protect Syrian Citizens, Ghuna Bdiwi

LLM Theses

The responsibility to protect (R2P) doctrine allows the international community to intervene for humanitarian purposes in events of massive violations of human rights. However, the legality of humanitarian intervention has received considerable critical attention because of its direct conflict with two fundamental norms in international law: the prohibition of the use of force, and the principle of state sovereignty. In Syria, mass atrocity crimes are escalating on a daily basis. Until now, international efforts have failed to find a peaceful formula to stop the crisis. International law allows the Security Council to authorize humanitarian intervention under the power of Chapter …

Rights And Responsibilities: What Are The Prospects For The Responsibility To Protect In The International/Transnational Arena?, Carolyn Helen Filteau

PhD Dissertations

The dissertation involves a study of the emerging international norm of ‘The Responsibility to Protect’ which states that citizens must be protected in cases of human atrocities, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide where states have failed or are unable to do so. According to the work of the International Commission on the Responsibility to Protect (ICISS), this response can and should span a continuum involving prevention, a response to the violence, when and if necessary, and ultimately rebuilding shattered societies. The most controversial aspect, however, is that of forceful intervention and much of the thesis focuses on this aspect. …

Poverty, Agency And Resistance In The Future Of International Law: An African Perspective, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Articles & Book Chapters

This article enquires into the likely posture of future international law with respect to African peoples. It does so by focusing on three of the most important issues that have defined, and are likely to continue to define, international law’s engagement with Africans. These are: the grinding poverty in which most Africans live, the question of agency in their historical search for dignity, and the extent to which these African peoples can effectively resist externally imposed frameworks and measures that have negative effects on their social, economic and political experience. International law’s future posture in these respects is considered through …

The Third World, International Law, And The "Post-9/11 Era": An Introduction, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The "War On Terror" And The "War Of Terror": Nomadic Multitudes, Aggressive Incumbents, And The "New" International Law: Prefactory Remarks On Two "Wars", Upendra Baxi

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article contrasts and compares the war on terror and the war of terror in the wake of, and before, 11 September 2001. The philosophical underpinnings involved in defining "terrorism" are analyzed in the context of the United States' war on terrorism and related wars of terrorism, such as the 1998 World Islamic Council's fatwa. Both wars fall within the wording of recent United Nations' Resolutions that address the adverse impact of terrorism on Human Rights. The understanding of the meaning of "terrorism" by those promoting the war on terrorism provides a powerful political tool, notwithstanding effects on Human Rights …

The War On Terror And Iraq In Historical Perspective, Antony Anghie

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article critically examines the doctrine of pre-emption articulated in the National Security Strategy and the arguments made in favour of the proposition that it represents an emerging norm of international law and is compatible with the UN Charter. It focuses in particular on the possible implications with the UN Charter. It focuses in particular on the possible implications of this doctrine for Third-World states. It also examines the war in Iraq and pre-emption may be seen as replicating, in certain respects, a much earlier colonial history.

Assessing Claims Of A New Doctrine Of Pre-Emptive War Under The Doctrine Of Sources, James Thuo Gathii

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

After examining state practice and opinio juris on the preemptive use of force in the last few years, I conclude that the prohibition of preemptive war where there is no armed attack or an instant, overwhelming threat has not changed. Under customary international law, this prohibition of preemptive use of force is a customary international law norm of extremely high normativity and as such state practice inconsistent confirms the norm particularly in the absence of evidence of its widespread and representative repudiation. Second, under the doctrine of sources, state practice inconsistent with a norm of customary international law or persistent …

The Bearded Bandit, The Outlaw Cop, And The Naked Emperor: Towards A North-South (De)Construction Of The Texts And Contexts Of International Law's (Dis)Engagement With Terrorism, Ikechi Mgbeoji

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

For over one hundred years, the definition of the term "terrorism" has been subjected to political propaganda. In addition, dubious self-righteous indignation or outrage, often expressed by various states or prominent politicians at the occurrence of acts of terror have often masked the participation of those same states in international terrorism. In this endless cycle of finger pointing, accusations, denials, and counter-accusations, the problematic of what constitutes terror in legal parlance has degenerated into an exercise in name-calling. This sad spectacle frustrates objective and sincere attempts at fashioning out legal and policy framework to deal with the scourge of terrorism. …

Newness, Imperialism, And International Legal Reform In Our Time: A Twail Perspective, Obiora Chinedu Okafor

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Van Ert Methodology Of Domestic Reception, Jamie Cameron

Articles & Book Chapters

A review of Gibran van Ert's book: Using International Law in Canadian Courts. This review approaches the author's methodology of domestic reception from a constitutionalist's perspective.

International Law And International Relations Theory: A New Generation Of Interdisciplinary Scholarship, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Andrew S. Tulumello, Stepan Wood

Articles & Book Chapters

Nine years ago, Kenneth Abbott published an article exhorting international lawyers to read and master regime theory, arguing that it had multiple uses for the study of international law.1 He went as far as to call for a 'joint discipline" that would bridge the gap between international relations theory (IR) and international law (IL). Several years later, one of us followed suit with an article mapping the history of the two fields and setting forth an agenda for joint research. 2 Since then, political scientists and international lawyers have been reading and drawing on one another's work with increasing frequency …

The Canadian Charter And Public International Law: Redefining The State's Power To Deport Aliens, Daniela Bassan

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article considers the relationship between international and domestic law in deportation proceedings. The argument is made that, generally, Canadian law should be interpreted consistently with Canada's obligations at international law, as reflected in conventions and custom. More specifically, the article proposes that Canada's obligation at international law to protect the family and the child be recognized in Canadian law as one of the principles of fundamental justice under section 7 of the Charter. The protection of the family is engaged by the deportation of domiciled aliens because, by definition, these deportees have been in Canada for a long period …