Human Rights Law Commons^™

Voices From Below—Africa’S Contribution To The Development Of The Norm Of Corporate Responsibility To Respect Human Rights, Akinwumi Olawuyi Ogunranti

PhD Dissertations

The long conversations about corporate responsibility predominantly take place in forums and conferences in the Global North. Yet, the majority of the human rights abuses and their impacts are felt by peasants, farmers, children, and women in local communities in the Global South who do not have a voice in the institutionalized governance systems that animate global affairs. This thesis answers the question of how norms and human rights institutions in Africa can influence the corporate responsibility to respect (CR2R) norm as embedded in pillar II of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. Through the theory …

The Criticism Of Eurocentrism And International Law: Countering And Pluralizing The Research, Teaching, And Practice Of Eurocentric International Law, Makane Moïse Mbengue, Olabisi D. Akinkugbe

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This Chapter draws on Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) in examining the question: how does the research and teaching of international law in the Global South challenge Eurocentrism in international law. The Chapter focuses on the emergent activities within Global South that pluralize Eurocentric international law’s dominance in the research production, teaching, and practice arenas. The Chapter pushes against the unfair over-representation of European countries in the scholarly production and institutions of international law. To illustrate the often-underexplored regional diversity of international law outside Europe, the Chapter reflects on the contemporary roles of critical Global South scholars and …

Mapping Human Rights-Based Climate Litigation In Canada, Lisa Benjamin, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

In line with global trends, there has been an increase in human rights-based climate litigation brought in Canadian courts in recent years. Some litigants invoke human rights as found in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to push federal and provincial governments to take seriously the implementation of their climate obligations. Other litigants invoke procedural environmental human rights to engage in free speech and peaceful protest in the face of government action supporting fossil fuel consumption or expansion. At the same time, the Supreme Court of Canada has recognized that Canadian courts could develop civil remedies for corporate violations …

Unep And Marine & Environmental Law Institute, "Plastics Toolbox: Business, Human Rights, And The Environment" (Last Updated November 2021) (Dalhousie University, Schulich School Of Law), Marine And Environmental Law Institute

Human Rights-based Approaches to Plastic Pollution

The Plastics Toolbox: Business, Human Rights, and the Environment, compiles good practices and cross-cutting guidance on a human rights-based approach to plastic pollution prevention and management with a focus on capacity building of governments and businesses in the East Asian Seas region. This compilation of resources, guidance, tools and trainings was prepared by a team of researchers at Dalhousie University's Marine and Environmental Law Institute under the direction of project lead Dr Sara L Seck, with funding from the United Nations Environment Programme. The materials in the toolbox were gathered from May to August 2021 and updated in November 2021. …

Divine Intervention, Part Ii: Narratives Of Norm Entrepreneurship In Canadian Religious Freedom Litigation, Kathryn Chan, Howard Kislowicz

Dalhousie Law Journal

Constitutional litigation has become a central arena for debate about human rights. Groups from all points on the political spectrum have turned to legal advocacy, “intervening” in judicial proceedings in an effort to advance their preferred interpretations of particular rights.

Judges and scholars remain divided on whether and how interveners are valuable. This paper evaluates a main rationale for intervention: interveners improve adjudication by enriching courts’ understandings of the issues before them. We use qualitative analysis to examine the extent to which interveners in Canada have succeeded in contributing to judicial pronouncements on the scope and meaning of religious freedom. …

Fiscal Decolonization-Indigenous Fiscal Autonomy And Tax Jurisdiction, Riad Kherallah

LLM Theses

This thesis focuses on the relationship between Indigenous fiscal autonomy and self-determination. Indigenous nations’ ability to achieve self-determination is dependent upon their ability to autonomously finance self-government. Unfortunately, Canada’s colonial policies have weakened Indigenous economies and rendered them dependent upon the Crown. Due to Indigenous nations’ lack of fiscal autonomy, Crown policies designed to promote Indigenous self-government have proven inadequate. This thesis argues for using the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as a blueprint for developing more equitable economic relations. While there are various elements to Crown-Indigenous economic relations, this thesis focuses on the distribution of …

Climate Justice And The Etos, Sara L. Seck

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This chapter will explore whether the Maastricht Principles have contributed to the clarification of ETOs for human rights in relation to climate justice. I will first consider some conceptual issues of relevance to both the ETOs and the quest for climate justice. Second, with reference to several examples, I will illustrate how the concept of extraterritoriality may create confusion rather than clarity in the climate context. I will then illustrate how this confusion may be overcome if attention is paid to the precise nature of the relationships at issue to which obligations attach, rather than reinforcing the bright line of …

International Arbitration: The New Frontier Of Business And Human Rights Dispute Resolution?, Tamar Meshel

Dalhousie Law Journal

The question of redress for corporate human rights violations remains daunting. Access to justice challenges faced by rights holders before domestic courts have placed this issue at the forefront of international discourse, and many initiatives have attempted to improve rights holders’ access to effective remedies. This article examines one such initiative, namely international arbitration. The article focuses on the use of international arbitration in the business and human rights context pursuant to the 2013 Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh and the recently launched Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration. It evaluates the extent to which …

Responsible Business Conduct In The Extractive Industries: Prospect Of Respecting Women's Human Rights In Ghana, Veronica Dossah

LLM Theses

Business operations in the extractive industries (EI) continue to violate women’s human rights and the environment in the communities in which they operate. In Ghana, existing laws and regulations do not preclude businesses from such violations. This makes it important to reflect on innovative means including soft laws which could encourage companies operating in the EI in Ghana to respect women’s human rights and the environment over and above compliance with national laws and regulations. This thesis examines the problem of land grabbing by EI companies operating in Ghana, the unique negative impacts women in mining communities face as a …

Shadow Pandemic: Covid-19 Lockdown Brings Increased Risk Of Violence For Rohingya Women And Girls, Sara Edwards

Law in a Post-Pandemic World

This blog is a reflection on the increases in gender-based violence (GBV) against Rohingya women in Bangladesh due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Effects Of Covid-19 On A Damaged System: How The Pandemic Exacerbated The Violation Of International Human Rights In The United States Immigration Detention Facilities, Alyson Sutton

Law in a Post-Pandemic World

This blog post highlights several issues within immigration detention facilities in the United States that violate International Human Rights Laws and how the pandemic further exacerbated them.

Submission To The Toronto Police Services Board’S Use Of New Artificial Intelligence Technologies Policy- Leaf And The Citizen Lab, Suzie Dunn, Kristen Mj Thomasen, Kate Robertson, Pam Hrick, Cynthia Khoo, Rosel Kim, Ngozi Okidegbe, Christopher Parsons

Reports & Public Policy Documents

We write as a group of experts in the legal regulation of artificial intelligence (AI), technology-facilitated violence, equality, and the use of AI systems by law enforcement in Canada. We have experience working within academia and legal practice, and are affiliated with LEAF and the Citizen Lab who support this letter.

We reviewed the Toronto Police Services Board Use of New Artificial Intelligence Technologies Policy and provide comments and recommendations focused on the following key observations:

1. Police use of AI technologies must not be seen as inevitable
2. A commitment to protecting equality and human rights must be integrated …

Adult Capacity And Decision Making Act Review, Sheila Wildeman

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act is for adults who can’t make some or all decisions for themselves because of a learning disability, mental illness, brain injury or other reasons. This law respects the rights of adults to make their own decisions, while allowing someone else to help make important decisions for them when they can’t.

You can read the results of the review in the Report on the Review of the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act.

In 2021, government consulted with Nova Scotians about the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act. The results of the consultation informed the review. You …

In The Name Of Public Health: Misoprostol And The New Criminalization Of Abortion In Brazil, Mariana Prandini Assis, Joanna Erdman

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article explores the criminal regulation of misoprostol as a controlled drug in Brazil as a new form of abortion criminalization. A qualitative analysis of Brazilian case law shows how the courts use a public health rhetoric of unsafe abortion to criminalize the distribution of misoprostol in the informal sector. Rather than an invention of the local bench, this judicial rhetoric reflects global public health discourse and policy on unsafe abortion and the double life of misoprostol as both an essential medicine and a controlled drug. In contrast to previous studies, the article shows that abortion criminalization is not the …

Book Review: Amal Clooney & Philippa Webb, The Right To A Fair Trial In International Law (Oup, 2020), Robert Currie

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Good lawyering, then, is required to maintain the fairness of trials, but good lawyering requires effective tools that can assist counsel in helping the contours of fairness be made apparent and cognizable before domestic courts. Translating international human rights law for the purposes of domestic application, in particular, is by no means an easy task, but this new text – The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law – provides lawyers with a formidable resource.

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

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

No abstract provided.

Social Determinants Of Health And Slippery Slopes In Assisted Dying Debates: Lessons From Canada, Jocelyn Downie, Udo Schuklenk

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

The question of whether problems with the social determinants of health that might impact decision-making justify denying eligibility for assisted dying has recently come to the fore in debates about the legalization of assisted dying. For example, it was central to critiques of the 2021 amendments made to Canada’s assisted dying law. The question of whether changes to a country’s assisted dying legislation lead to descents down slippery slopes has also come to the fore—as it does any time a jurisdiction changes its laws. We explore these two questions through the lens of Canada’s experience both to inform Canada’s ongoing …

Attitudes Toward Withholding Antibiotics From People With Dementia Lacking Decisional Capacity: Findings From A Survey Of Canadian Stakeholders, Gina Bravo, Lieve Van Den Block, Jocelyn Downie, Marcel Arcand, Lise Trottier

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Background

Healthcare professionals and surrogate decision-makers often face the difficult decision of whether to initiate or withhold antibiotics from people with dementia who have developed a life-threatening infection after losing decisional capacity.

Methods

We conducted a vignette-based survey among 1050 Quebec stakeholders (senior citizens, family caregivers, nurses and physicians; response rate 49.4%) to (1) assess their attitudes toward withholding antibiotics from people with dementia lacking decisional capacity; (2) compare attitudes between dementia stages and stakeholder groups; and (3) investigate other correlates of attitudes, including support for continuous deep sedation (CDS) and medical assistance in dying (MAID). The vignettes feature a …

Reasonable Expectations Of Privacy In An Era Of Drones And Deepfakes: Expanding The Supreme Court Of Canada’S Decision In R V Jarvis, Suzie Dunn, Kristen Mj Thomasen

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Perpetrators of Technology-Facilitated gender-based violence are taking advantage of increasingly automated and sophisticated privacy-invasive tools to carry out their abuse. Whether this be monitoring movements through stalker-ware, using drones to non-consensually film or harass, or manipulating and distributing intimate images online such as deep-fakes and creepshots, invasions of privacy have become a significant form of gender-based violence. Accordingly, our normative and legal concepts of privacy must evolve to counter the harms arising from this misuse of new technology. Canada’s Supreme Court recently addressed Technology-Facilitated violations of privacy in the context of voyeurism in R v Jarvis (2019). The discussion of …

Is It Actually Violence? Framing Technology-Facilitated Abuse As Violence, Suzie Dunn

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

When discussing the term “Technology-Facilitated violence” (TFV) it is often asked: “Is it actually violence?” While international human rights standards, such as the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, have long recognized emotional and psychological abuse as forms of violence, including many forms of technology-facilitated abuse, law makers and the general public continue to grapple with the question of whether certain harmful technology-facilitated behaviors are actually forms of violence. This chapter explores this question in two parts. First, it reviews three theoretical concepts of violence and examines how these concepts apply to technology-facilitated …

Mental Illness And Professional Regulation: The Duty To Report A Fellow Lawyer To The Society, Andrew Flavelle Martin

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

Lawyers have a largely overlooked duty to report other lawyers to the law society in a range of circumstances. This duty contemplates mental illness, explicitly or implicitly, as a reportable condition and thus engages issues of stigma and discrimination. This article analyzes this reporting duty with a focus on its implications for lawyers with disabilities. The article begins by examining the history and text of the rule and considering several legal problems it presents. It then canvasses law societies’ duties to their members with disabilities under human rights law and analyzes how the duty to report interacts with human rights …

Human Rights And Transnational Organized Crime, Robert Currie, Sarah Douglas

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This chapter will scrutinize the points at which these two legal regimes intersect with and infuse each other. It will proceed in three sections. The first section will provide a brief overview of the international human rights law system, specifically tailored to ground the following parts. The second section will examine the means by which protection is given to the human rights of individuals who are targeted for criminal investigation and prosecution as a result of their alleged involvement in TOC (referred to for efficiency as “accused persons” or “the accused”). It will first briefly explain the means by which …

International Working Group On Polar Shipping: Report To The Executive Council And Assembly Of The Comité Maritime International, Aldo Chircop

Reports & Public Policy Documents

This report covers the reporting period from 1 November 2020 to 31 May 2021. The IWG Chair acknowledges updates provided by the subgroup chairs. The IWG continues to operate through three subgroups, namely on Antarctic Shipping (chaired by David Baker), COLREGS in Polar Environments (chaired by Stefanie Johnston) and Cruise Passengers’ Rights (chaired by Lars Rosenberg Overby). While progress has been made, unfortunately the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic has continued to affect aspects of the IWG’s work.

Do Independent External Decision Makers Ensure That “An Inmate’S Confinement In A Structured Intervention Unit Is To End As Soon As Possible”? [Corrections And Conditional Release Act, Section 33], Jane B. Sprott, Anthony N. Doob, Adelina Iftene

Reports & Public Policy Documents

The Government of Canada established Correctional Service Canada’s (CSC) Structured Intervention Units (SIUs) to be a substitute for “Administrative Segregation” as it officially was known, or Solitary Confinement as it is more commonly known. The goals – explicit in the legislation governing federal penitentiaries (the Corrections and Conditional Release Act) – included provisions that SIUs were to be used as little as possible and that prisoners would be transferred from them as soon as possible.

This report examines some aspects of the operation of the IEDMs – the only SIU oversight mechanism that is currently active – using administrative data …

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 …

Amicus Brief By Amnesty International And Others, Mark Gibney, Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Ashfaq Khalfan, Paula Litvachky, Ana María Suárez Franco, Sara L. Seck, Sigrun Skogly, Nicolás Carrillo-Santarelli, Jernej Letnar Černič, Tom Mulisa, Nicholas Orago, Wouter Vandenhole, Jingjing Zhang

Reports & Public Policy Documents

On September 2, 2020, six Portuguese youth filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against 33 countries. The complaint alleges that the respondents have violated human rights by failing to take sufficient action on climate change, and seeks an order requiring them to take more ambitious action.

The complaint relies on Articles 2, 8, and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect the right to life, right to privacy, and right to not experience discrimination. The complainants claim that their right to life is threatened by the effects of climate change in Portugal such …

Faith And/In Medicine: Religious And Conscientious Objections To Maid, Daphne Gilbert

Dalhousie Law Journal

Across Canada, health care institutions that operate under the umbrella of religious traditions refuse to offer medical assistance in dying (MAiD) on the grounds that it violates their Charter-protected rights to freedom of religion and conscience. This article analyses the Supreme Court jurisprudence on section 2(a) and concludes that it should not extend to the protection of institutional rights. While the Court has not definitively pronounced a view on this matter, its jurisprudence suggests that any institutional right to freedom of religion would not extend to decisions on publicly-funded and legal health care. MAiD is a constitutionally-protected option for individuals …

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 …

Using Canadian Law To Prevent, Respond To And Remedy Maltreatment In Sport: Listening To And Learning From Athletes, Wendy Macgregor

LLM Theses

This thesis addresses maltreatment of athletes in Canada, in the post-Nassar era, by considering applicable law, policy, academic literature and a qualitative study. Athlete maltreatment may include: psychological, physical and sexual maltreatment, and neglect. Prevalence and impacts of maltreatment are examined. Legal and administrative options available to complainants are discussed, as well as applicable international human rights and child rights conventions, Canadian legislation, legal principles, and jurisprudence. An academic literature review provides maltreatment definitions in order to lay the groundwork for the discussion. Academic perspectives and proposals for redress are considered. A qualitative athlete study produced four key themes which …

An Analysis Of The Human Rights Approach To Climate Change: The Right To A Healthy Environment, Intergenerational Equity And Climate Litigation, Unwana Emmanuel Udo

LLM Theses

Climate change litigation is a viable tool in the fight against climate change. For the past 2 decades, climate litigation has largely been based on torts and administrative law. However, courts have recently been quite receptive to human rights arguments in climate cases, thereby necessitating recognition of the human rights approach as an important facet of climate litigation. It is important for intergenerational equity to be integrated into the human rights approach to climate change. One of the major benefits of intergenerational equity to the human rights approach is its potential to catalyze the recognition of the right to a …