Law Commons^™

Wrongful Extradition: Reforming The Committal Phase Of Canada’S Extradition Law, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There has recently been an upswing in interest around extradition in Canada, particularly in light of the high-profile and troubling case of Hassan Diab who was extradited to France on the basis of what turned out to be an ill-founded case. Diab’s case highlights some of the problems with Canada’s Extradition Act and proceedings thereunder. This paper argues that the “committal stage” of extradition proceedings, involving a judicial hearing into the basis of the requesting state’s case, is unfair and may not be compliant with the Charter and that the manner in which the Crown conducts these proceedings contributes to …

Book Review: The Right To A Fair Trial In International Law, Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

No abstract provided.

Regulating Wave, Tidal And Ocean Thermal Energy, Meinhard Doelle, Theodore Nsoe Adimazoya

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Ocean renewable energy sources hold the potential to contribute to the options of low-carbon energy sources and enhance the efforts by the global community to slow down climate change. In this Chapter, we provide a brief background on the current state of technology and development of wave, tidal and ocean thermal energy and consider their potential as forms of renewable energy as well as the potential negative environmental footprints of ocean renewable energy installation and development. Secondly, we examine the relevant international legal and policy framework governing ocean energy, highlighting in particular, the absence of a global legal instrument that …

Theorizing Developmental Regionalism In Narratives Of African Regional Trade Agreement, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There is a gap in the legal scholarship on African regional trade agreements (RTAs) that links law and development to narratives of developmental regionalism. This article undertakes a critical analysis of the ‘developmental regionalism’ paradigm as they have been applied in the study of African RTAs. The article identifies three areas of critical intervention to address the incoherence of developmental regionalism in Africa: limitation in theory; narrow conceptualization; and an insufficient attention to the role of law. First, to address the gap in theorizing the ‘development’ in developmental regionalism, this article makes the case for an explicit linking of Law …

Dispute Settlement Under The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement: A Preliminary Assessment, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) will add a new dispute settlement system to the plethora of judicial mechanisms designed to resolve trade disputes in Africa. Against the discontent of Member States and limited impact the existing highly legalized trade dispute settlement mechanisms have had on regional economic integration in Africa, this paper undertakes a preliminary assessment of the AfCFTA Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM). In particular, the paper situates the AfCFTA-DSM in the overall discontent and unsupportive practices of African States with highly legalized dispute settlement systems and similar WTO-Styled DSMs among other shortcomings. Notwithstanding the transplantation of …

Africa’S Participation In International Economic Law In The 21st Century: An Introduction, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Ohio Omiunu, Amaka Vanni, Regis Y. Simo, Luwam Dirar

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This is the introduction to the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law Symposium Issue based on selected papers presented at the Fourth Biennial Conference of the African International Economic Law Network at Strathmore Law School, Nairobi, Kenya in July 2019. The introduction also reflects on four important spaces for the consolidation of the scholarship, teaching and research, practice and policy relating to international economic law in Africa.

Introduction To The Inaugural Issue Of The African Journal Of International Economic Law, James Thuo Gathii, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Welcome to the inaugural issue of the African Journal of International Economic Law(AfJIEL) Our goal is to fill a gap in journals covering international economic law relating to Africa and the Global South This first issue fulfills our promise to launch the AfJIEL as announced at the 2019 African International Economic Law Network conference in Nairobi

Symposium Introduction: Vulnerabilities In The Trade And Investment Regimes In The Age Of Covid-19, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Clair Gammage

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Symposium is one of the follow-up publications to the Afronomicslaw.org Webinar III on “Vulnerability in the Trade and Investment Regime in the Age of COVID-19”

‘Vulnerability’ in trade and investment regimes is not a new phenomenon. Nor, is the concept of ‘crisis’. While IEL scholarship has acknowledged some of the way(s) in which the formalisation of international legal rules in trade and investment can act like a ‘straightjacket’ on global south states, sustaining and creating forms of dependencies that are difficult to escape, there is a notable lack of meaningful engagement with the contours and manifestations of concepts like …

Symposium Introduction: Teaching And Researching International Law – Global Perspectives, James Thuo Gathii, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Nthope Mapefane, Titilayo Adebola, Ohio Omiunu

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Welcome to the Teaching and Researching International Law – Global Perspectives Symposium. This series of blog posts gathers perspectives from international law teachers, researchers and students from different regions and all stages of their careers and legal education, to reflect together on common challenges and imagined futures of our profession. This Symposium is held in a moment of great uncertainty – but also of possibility: the Critical Pedagogy Symposium recently held on Opinio Juris offered thought-provoking commentary from across the globe on critical international pedagogy and the virtual space, while the forthcoming TWAILR series on Critique and the Canon promises …

Africa’S Participation In International Economic Law In The 21st Century: An Introduction, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Ohio Omiunu, Amaka Vanni, Regis Y. Simo, Luwam Dirar

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This is the introduction to the Manchester Journal of International Economic Law Symposium Issue based on selected papers presented at the Fourth Biennial Conference of the African International Economic Law Network at Strathmore Law School, Nairobi, Kenya in July 2019. The introduction also reflects on four important spaces for the consolidation of the scholarship, teaching and research, practice and policy relating to international economic law in Africa.

Theorizing Developmental Regionalism In Narratives Of African Regional Trade Agreements (Rtas), Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There is a gap in the legal scholarship on African regional trade agreements (RTAs) that links law and development to narratives of developmental regionalism. This article addresses the gap by making the case for an explicit linking of Law and Development scholarship and Developmental Regionalism in African RTAs.

First, the article argues that the cross- pollination of the fields provides an opportunity for a more rigorous understanding of developmental regionalism in African RTAs. Second, the article that developmental regionalism as an analytical tool responds to and encapsulates the multidimensional character of African RTAs. Third, the article argues for a more …

Doing Development Differently: Reorienting Sino-African Trade And Investment Relations After The Pandemic, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe, Clair Gammage

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores the evolutive nature of Sino-African relations and questions how Chinese interventions may influence Africa’s development stories in a post-Covid world. We examine whether the crisis could serve as a catalyst for reorienting the strategic partnership between China and Africa away from debt diplomacy towards genuine partnership or a breaking apart of the long-standing relationship. This article presents three narratives to illustrate how the future direction of Sino-African relations may change and how this might enable Africa to ‘do development differently’.

Editorial, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

1 This issue marks the tenth month into the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March 2020, we have learned to live with the more or less strict public health measures put in place to ‘flatten the curve’ of infection from the virus. Words like ‘social distancing’, ‘mask wearing’, and ‘lockdowns’ have taken an entirely new meaning. In spite of these measures, the human toll is huge, most clearly among frontline workers and vulnerable people. While the curve is far from flat in most countries, the pandemic has brought to light the long time unacknowledged persistence of systemic inequalities: figures show that poorer, …

Are Transboundary Fisheries Management Arrangements In The Northwest Atlantic And North Pacific Seaworthy In A Changing Ocean?, Olga Koubrak, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Climate change is affecting physical and biological components and processes of marine ecosystems in many ways. Resulting changes in abundance and distribution of commercially valuable species are anticipated to create or exacerbate challenges for fisheries management across national boundaries by raising questions around catch allocation, membership in the management organizations, and forms of cooperation between the organizations. In this paper we assess eight transboundary fisheries arrangements in the Northwest Atlantic and North Pacific on their preparedness to respond to climate-change driven changes. For each arrangement a three-part analysis is provided. A general introduction to fisheries management responsibilities, including species and …

Introduction, Aldo Chircop, Floris Goerlandt, Claudio Aporta, Ronald Pelot

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This chapter introduces a multidisciplinary collection of chapters addressing various aspects of governance of Arctic shipping written by leading international scholars. It investigates how ocean changes and anthropogenic impacts affect our understanding of risk, policy, management and regulation for safe navigation, environment protection, conflict management between ocean uses, and protection of Indigenous peoples’ interests in Canadian Arctic waters. The book is divided in three parts, together providing a multi-faceted and interdisciplinary view on governance of Arctic shipping. The first part addresses conceptual and empirical aspects of risk governance, management, and assessment in the Canadian Arctic. The second part focuses on …

The Regulation Of Ship Emissions In Canadian Northwest Atlantic And Arctic Waters: Is There A Need For Consistency And Equity?, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Since the adoption of Annex VI of the International Convention on the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973/78, the International Maritime Organization has gradually expanded the scope of ship emission regulation to include VOCs, SOx, NOx, particulate matter and, more recently, greenhouse gas emissions. This regulatory effort has not been integrated and displays some inconsistency and even fragmentation, resulting in different levels of environment protection for different regions and even potential conflicts between standards. The regulation of use and carriage of heavy sulphur fuel oil may lead to increase of clean fuel use and thereby produce more CO2 emissions. Designation …

The Theorized Relationship Between Organizational (Non)Compliance With The United Nations Guiding Principles On Human Rights And Desired Employee Workplace Outcomes, Magda B. L. Donia, Salvador Herencia Carrasco, Sara L. Seck, Robert Mccorquodale, Sigalit Ronen

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Despite the presence of guiding legislation such as the United Nations Guiding Principles, respect for human rights is subject to the conscience of organizational actors. Given that some transnational corporations are more powerful than nation states, they play an important role in the economies in which they operate, often with far-reaching impact on the labor conditions and human rights protections within these countries. In the current global context, respect for human rights may be undermined when organizational decision-makers are tempted to ignore unethical practices due to considerations such as competition and short-term financial incentives. We propose that the higher standards …

The Regulation Of Heavy Fuel Oil In Arctic Shipping: Interests, Measures, And Impacts, Jiayu Bai, Aldo Chircop

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Since the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) ban on the use and carriage for use of heavy fuel oil (HFO) for ships operating in Antarctic waters came into effect in 2011, the international community has been engaged in a discourse on whether to adopt a similar standard for ships operating in Arctic waters. The issues are complex as, in addition to reducing the environmental risks posed by HFOs, there are economic and social consequences, including dependence on such fuels by Indigenous peoples. The discourse has involved the IMO, the Arctic Council, industry associations, environmental nongovernmental organizations, and Indigenous peoples. The issue …

Regime For Use Of Out-Of-Commerce Works, Lucie Guibault

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

A presentation of the new provisions in European Directive 2019/790 on Copyright in the Digital Single Market on the licensing and use of out-of-commerce works by cultural heritage institutions.

A Relational Analysis Of Enterprise Obligations And Carbon Majors For Climate Justice, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

A coherent theory of climate justice must answer the question of “who owes what to whom, and why?” In this paper I consider this question with a focus on the contribution of business enterprises, in particular the ‘carbon majors’, to climate injustice. I will first introduce a relational approach to legal analysis, drawing upon the work of feminist and vulnerability theorists, Indigenous feminist theorists, and feminist corporate and international law theorists. This relational approach confronts the dominant yet unacknowledged prevalence of the bounded autonomous individual of liberal thought in diverse areas of law and policy, and offers a method not …

An Intellectual History Of Comparative Tax Law, Kim Brooks

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In this article, the author argues that comparative tax law has an intellectual history. More specifically, the author claims that history reveals there is a distinguishable comparative tax law scholarship where tax scholars engage in common debates. The author then offers a description of method, highlighting the difficulty of identifying the work that might be considered “comparative tax law.” Next, the author conceptualizes and clusters contributions from scholars who have framed the comparative tax law field. The author argues that our national boundedness, combined with the lack of an explicit network of scholars, has masked the rich intellectual history in …

In The Shadow Of International Law: Secrecy And Regime Change In The Postwar World, Hannah Steeves

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In the Shadow of International Law: Secrecy and Regime Change in the Postwar World explores a theoretical argument that might explain why world leaders often pursue regime change surreptitiously. Author Michael Poznansky is an assistant professor in international affairs and intelligence studies cross-appointed to the political science department at the University of Pittsburgh. He explores the role that international laws addressing violations of sovereignty have played in post-WWII America’s increase in covert interventions intent on altering the domestic authority structures of another state. Simply put, the book tests Poznansky’s theory that non-intervention principles and provisions lead to intentionally covert actions …

Reverse Contributors? African State Parties, Icsid, And The Development Of International Investment Law, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

International investment disputes involving African states before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) have generated significant critical inquiry. Yet, accounts of their contribution to the development of international investment law as a result of these dispute are limited. This article addresses this gap. It examines the contribution of some of the high-profile ICSID disputes involving African states to the development of international investment law. Notwithstanding the charges against African States in ICSID, I contend that the involvement of African States in ICSID Disputes has contributed to the development of international investment law. In particular, the jurisprudence that …

The Role Of International Environmental Law In Canadian Courts, Phillip Saunders

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Book Description

Canadian environmental law is a dynamic and exciting area that is playing an increasingly important role in furthering sustainable development policy. Environmental law has distinctive relevant principles, operating procedures, implications, and importance in comparison with other areas of law, and these distinctions must be appreciated both within the legal community and by all those who are concerned with the way that courts handle environmental cases.

Environment in the Courtroom provides extensive insight into Canadian environmental law. Covering key environmental concepts and the unique nature of environmental damage, environmental prosecutions, sentencing and environmental offences, evidentiary issues in environmental processes …

Call For Inputs: Climate Change And Human Rights: A Safe Climate, Sara L. Seck, Lisa Benjamin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

There is now global agreement that human rights norms apply to the full spectrum of environmental issues, including climate change. The previous Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. John Knox, developed Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment that set forth three sets of duties that engage both States and businesses: procedural obligations; substantive obligations; and obligations relating to those in vulnerable situations.

The current Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment, Mr. David Boyd, is working to provide additional clarity regarding the substantive obligations relating to a range of elements that are essential to …

Advancing Research For The Management Of Long-Lived Species: A Case Study On The Greenland Shark, Jena E. Edwards, Elizabeth Hiltz, Franziska Broell, Peter G. Bushnell, Steven E. Campana, Jørgen S. Christiansen, Brynn M. Devine, Jeffrey J. Gallant, Kevin J. Hedges, M. Aaron Macneil, Bailey C. Mcmeans, Julius Nielsen, Kim Præbel, Gregory B. Skomal, John F. Steffensen, Ryan P. Walter, Yuuki Y. Watanabe, David Vanderzwaag, Nigel E. Hussey

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Long-lived species share life history traits such as slow growth, late maturity, and low fecundity, which lead to slow recovery rates and increase a population’s vulnerability to disturbance. The Greenland shark (Somniosus microcephalus) has recently been recognized as the world’s longest-lived vertebrate, but many questions regarding its biology, physiology, and ecology remain unanswered. Here we review how current and future research will fill knowledge gaps about the Greenland shark and provide an overall framework to guide research and management priorities for this species. Key advances include the potential for specialized aging techniques and demographic studies to shed light …

Extradition And Trial Delays: Recent Developments (And Lessons?) From Canada, Robert Currie, Laura Ellyson

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Extradition – the formal rendition of criminal fugitives between states – is well-known to be a time-consuming process that often has impacts, minor or major, on the ability of states to complete prosecution in a timely manner. Thus, the extradition process can sometimes be at odds with the right to trial within a reasonable time, which is part of the overall package of fair trial rights enshrined in international human rights law. In Canada, this right is implemented by paragraph 11(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In recent years Canadian courts have developed a series of principles …

Social Cost Of Carbon In Environmental Impact Assessment, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

While the social cost of carbon (SCC) has played a prominent role in regulatory decision-making in recent years, use in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) realm has been minimal. This article explores potential roles for SCC in EIA. Using Canada’s proposed new federal impact assessment (IA) regime as a basis, the analysis examines how a jurisdiction could employ SCC to integrate climate change considerations into project-level assessment and decision-making. Potential roles are first discussed in relation to the broad purposes of IA, before focusing on key assessment factors such as consideration of economic costs and benefits, cumulative effects, climate change …

Impacts Of The Changing Ocean-Sea Ice System On The Key Forage Fish Arctic Cod (Boreogadus Saida) And Subsistence Fisheries In The Western Canadian Arctic—Evaluating Linked Climate, Ecosystem And Economic (Cee) Models, Nadja S. Steiner, William W. L. Cheung, Andres M. Cisneros-Montemayor, Helen Drost, Hakase Hayashida, Carie Hoover, Jen Lam, Tessa Sou, U. Rashid Sumaila, Paul Suprenand, Travis C. Tai, David Vanderzwaag

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This study synthesizes results from observations, laboratory experiments and models to showcase how the integration of scientific methods and indigenous knowledge can improve our understanding of (a) past and projected changes in environmental conditions and marine species; (b) their effects on social and ecological systems in the respective communities; and (c) support management and planning tools for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The study links climate-ecosystem-economic (CEE) models and discusses uncertainties within those tools. The example focuses on the key forage species in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Western Canadian Arctic), i.e., Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida). Arctic cod can be …

The Heart Of The Paris Rulebook: Communicating Ndcs And Accounting For Their Implementation, Meinhard Doelle

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Nationally Determined Contributions play a critical role in the architecture of the Paris Agreement. Parties are required to prepare and communicate their NDCs and to undertake domestic efforts to meet their mitigation commitments, facilitated in some cases by support and finance from other parties. The focus of this article is on key elements of the five-year cycle that deal with the content and process of NDCs, specifically the portion of the Paris Rulebook on the communication of NDCs and the accounting for their implementation. The article concludes that while the basics appear to be in place, there are a number …