Law Commons^™

Enforcing International Human Rights Law Against Corporations, Barnali Choudhury

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International human rights law is generally thought to apply directly to states, not to corporations since the latter is not a subject of international law. Some domestic courts are, however, enforcing these norms against corporations in domestic settings. Canadian courts have, for instance, recognized that corporations can be liable for breach of customary international law norms while UK courts have enforced international human rights norms indirectly against corporations relying on a combination of domestic corporate and tort law.

At the same time, some states are choosing to enforce international human rights norms against corporations using regulatory initiatives. These initiatives, known …

Transgender Erasure: Barriers Facing Transgender Refugees In Canada, Sean Rehaag, Alexandra Verman

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This paper explores the experiences of transgender refugee claimants in Canada’s refugee status determination system, using mixed methods: quantitative analysis of data obtained from the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), reviews of published and unpublished decisions, country condition documentation packages and IRB guidelines, as well as interviews with refugee lawyers. Using these methods, we explore how credibility arises in transgender refugee claims, noting the impact of medicalization and country conditions materials on transgender claims, and drawing parallels between medical gatekeeping and credibility assessments in refugee claims. We identify potential explanations for low recorded numbers of transgender claims as rooted in …

Renewing Freedom Of Expression, Part Two: From The Contextual Approach To Proportionality Balancing, Jamie Cameron

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This article continues the project to renew the Charter’s methodology of expressive freedom in two parts. Part One explained that the Court’s approach to s.2(b) decision making is skewed against expressive freedom and must be addressed holistically, under ss.2(b) and s.1. (see J. Cameron, “Resetting the Foundations: Renewing Freedom of Expression under Section 2(b) of the Charter”, in B. Bird and D. Ross, eds., Forgotten Foundations of the Canadian Constitution. (LexisNexis Canada, 2022). Part One provided a critique of the current methodology, addressed the meaning of freedom under s.2(b), proposed a revised standard of breach, and sketched a …

The Grounds Of Human Rights, Brian Slattery

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What is the rational foundation for the doctrine of universal human rights? Some philosophers, such as Alan Gewirth, argue that it may be discovered simply by reflection on certain essential features of the human constitution. However this approach has significant problems, achieving its ends by smuggling certain tacit premises into the argument. A better approach is one that appeals to the communal practices and traditions within which doctrines of human rights have evolved historically. It is here that Alasdair MacIntyre's work becomes relevant, because it maintains that traditions have a rationality of their own, and that all rationality is in …

Stewart V. Elk Valley: The Case Of The Cocaine-Using Coal Miner, Faisal Bhabha

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It has for some time been settled under section 15 of the Charter and within anti-discrimination code definitions that "disability" includes "addictions". Labour boards and human rights tribunals have long accepted that "alcohol and drug addiction are illnesses and are physical and mental disabilities for the purposes of the Human Rights Code. There are no reasons to consider them any less an illness or disability than any other serious affliction."' The shift in expert consensus led to notable changes to the key American diagnostic instrument, the DSM 5, adopted in 2013 with a completely revised approach to addictions. What is …

La “Marca Canadiense”: La Violencia Y Las Compañías Mineras Canadienses En América Latina, Shin Imai, Leah Gardner, Sarah Weinberger

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Este informe, elaborado por el Proyecto Justicia y Responsabilidad Corporativa (JCAP, por sus siglas en inglés), es el primero que expone formas específicas de violencia y criminalización asociadas con los proyectos mineros canadienses en América Latina durante un período de quince años. La exposición de cada incidente se complementa con oportunas notas al pie, y todos los vínculos web mencionados se preservan con el uso del servicio Perma.cc de la Escuela de Derecho de Harvard. El informe critica la ausencia de mecanismos en Canadá para la investigación de cualquier presunta violación de los derechos humanos cometida por las compañías mineras …

The Canada Brand: Violence And Canadian Mining Companies In Latin America, Shin Imai, Leah Gardner, Sarah Weinberger

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The Canada Brand: Violence and Canadian Mining in Guatemala

This is the first report to profile specific forms of violence and criminalization associated with Canadian mining projects in Latin America over a fifteen-year period. Each incident is carefully footnoted and all web links are preserved using Harvard Law School’s Perma.cc service. The report is critical of the lack of Canadian mechanisms for investigating human rights abuses of Canadian companies operating overseas. It draws on the thinking of former Supreme Court of Canada Justice Ian Binnie and others to argue that the concepts of proximity to violence and complicity of the …