Course Descriptions
LAWS 2189 Crown Law
CREDIT HOURS: 2
There is no other entity involved in as many civil proceedings as the crown, federally and provincially. Through its statutes, regulations and policies, the crown’s impact is evident in all aspects of Canadian society. It is imperative, therefore, that legal practitioners, regardless of their areas of practice, understand the crown as a legal entity. The crown enjoys unique rights and protections under the law. This course will explore these concepts through topics such as crown immunity, remedies available against the crown, civil procedure rules only applicable to the crown, the jurisdiction of courts over the crown (including that of the Federal Court of Canada), rules of evidence exclusive to the crown, judicial review, crown agencies and crown powers in the recovery of debt. The course will focus on the federal crown and the provincial crown in Nova Scotia.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Final exam with the option of an assignment (30% of the final grade).
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 2 credits
LAWS 2191 Animals and the Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar examines legal issues pertaining to non-human animals. It is concerned with how such entities have been conceptualized by the law and with how they should be. Should animals be viewed as objects (property), as legal subjects (rights holders), or as something else altogether? This debate will provide the context for examining the history of animal protection legislation and current issues relating to animals. These include the constitutional authority to legislate with respect to non-humans, animal cruelty (including such specific topics as experimentation on non-human animals, treatment of farmed animals, and hunting), endangered species legislation, standing in animal welfare/rights litigation, market-based approaches and civil disobedience by animal activists.ENROLMENT: 16 students
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper plus in-course assignment.
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2192 Advanced Negligence: Medical Malpractice
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will examine, from a theoretical perspective, issues of potential liability of hospitals, healthcare professionals, product suppliers, and governments for their respective roles in the provision of health services. Topics covered may include: the learned intermediary rule; non-delegable duties and vicarious liability; tort/contract overlap; the fault standard and comprehensive compensation for injury; potential government liability, especially re the blood supply and sexual sterilization; reproductive technologies and malpractice; and issues of consent, including capacity of minors and those with mental impairment to consent to treatment.
NOTES: Research Method: Major research paper, class presentation, and class participation
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2194 Critical Race & Legal Theory I: A Survey of 'Race' & Law in Canada
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Using a Critical Race and Legal Theory approach to examine Canada's substantive law, this course introduces students to the obfuscated interconnected role of 'Race' and Law in Canada. Students will acquire enhanced 'Race' literacy skills as we explore the bond between 'Race' and Law, through direct examination of legal instruments dating from the Colonial to Contemporary Periods ─ statutes, treaties, proclamations, decrees, directives, trial records, court decisions, petitions and other primary source "Authentic Documents" that let original actors speak for themselves. In addition, selected doctrinal writings by critical legal scholars will help equip students to understand and to critically assess the on-going processes by which, throughout Canada's history, Law has both corrected and created deficits for those racialized Communities that are notably, Aboriginal, African Descended and Asians. ENROLLMENT: Limited to 16
NOTES: Assessment Method: Evaluation based on a major paper, class participation, and presentation.
LAWS 2195 Human Rights Law & Protection in Canada
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This Advanced Seminar offers students an in-depth exposure to the constitutional, federal, provincialand territorial jurisdictional network of Human Rights (HR) legislation, policies, and mechanisms set up under both the common law and civil law regimes to ensure the protection of HR in Canada. Students will critically examine relevant reports, doctrinal writings and jurisprudence generated by Collective Agreement Labour Arbitrations, by HR Tribunal and Board of Inquiry Hearings, and by Supreme Court of Canada decisions, so as to identify the evolutionary trends of Canadian legislation and Case Law. The Seminar will focus not only on those substantive deficiencies and procedural limitations that inhere in the current systems, but also on the public response to Canada's domestic implementation and delivery of HR protection.ENROLLMENT: Limited to 16
NOTES: Assessment Method: Term Assignment 20%; Major Research Paper 80% (in English or French)
LAWS 2197 International and Transnational Criminal Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar explores the development and operation of International Criminal Law. The idea that individuals may be held responsible for criminal acts under international law took firm hold with the war crimes trials after WWII. From beginnings in international humanitarian law, the body of international crimes has greatly expanded along with the development from ad hoc to permanent institutions and procedures for their prosecution. This process culminated in 2002 in the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).It may be said that International Criminal Law exists at the convergence of the penal aspects of international law and the international aspects of national criminal law, and intersects with the application of human rights law in times of both peace and war. Reflecting this status, the course will consider international crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, focusing in particular on the ICC. Other crimes of international concern, such as torture, terrorism, drug smuggling, corruption and other organized criminal activity will also be discussed. Focus will also be placed on the prosecution of international crimes at the national level, with emphasis on jurisdictional problems and application of human rights standards. Examination will also be made of co-operative mechanisms utilized by states to facilitate the national prosecution of trans-national criminal acts, such as extradition and mutual legal assistance. Specific topics addressed may vary from year to year depending on student and instructor interest. This course touches on some of the topics referred to in International Humanitarian Law: Law of Armed Conflict but there is very little duplication and students interested in the subject mater could benefit from taking both courses.ENROLMENT: 16 students
NOTES: Assessment Method:In-course assignments, a major research paper and class participation.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
PREREQUISITES: International Law is strongly recommended
LAWS 2198 Critical Perspectives on Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar examines several contemporary critical theories of law in their interdisciplinary settings. We trace the emergence and development of the legal scholarship of some or all of the following: critical legal feminism, critical race theory, gender studies and queer and trans legal theory, critical disability theory, critical legal pluralism, postcolonial and decolonial theories, the "return" to political economy, critical interdisciplinarity, and the law's "spatial turn". We examine these theories and movements through both their historical bases and seminal texts as well as through more recent texts that engage with the ongoing development and response of critical theories of law to the current challenges and realities law faces today.
ENROLMENT: 16 students
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper and class participation.
This course may be counted towards a Certificate in Environmental Law.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2203 Intellectual Property Law II
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This is a seminar designed to enable students to discuss, research, generally explore in in-depth ways and to write papers on special topics in intellectual property rights, especially those that are of contemporary interest. coursees will be flexible and will endeavour to focus on a range of topics considered to be of contemporary relevance in regard to the intersections of intellectual property rights with, and their impact on, other areas of law and public policy both nationally and globally. In addition to sustaining a contemporary focus, the seminar will explore basic concepts that will assist students to understand current developments and transitions in the intellectual property arena. Students will be shepherded to generate and explore researchable issues in their areas of interests in order to meet their individual and collective expectations from the seminar. There is no technical background or expertise required for enrolment. Generally, students are expected to make use of the Internet and other research tools to access seminar-related materials and to advance their research interests.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper and class participation (which may include a presentation)
COREQUISITES: Intellectual Property
LAWS 2204 Secured Transactions
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course examines the law of commercial transactions that involve consensual arrangements to finance the supply of goods, together with other competing interests in personal property. The operation of the provincial Personal Property Security Acts will be emphasized and their relation to secured transactions under federal legislation, such as the Bank Act, will also be discussed.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Written examination that may be open or closed-book
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 hours per week
LAWS 2205 International Humanitarian Law/Law of Armed Conflict
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar explores the development and operation of International Humanitarian Law (also known as the Law of Armed Conflict) which is the body of public international law that regulates conduct during armed conflict. International Humanitarian Law has been an important component of international law for centuries. It is a body of preventive law which is intended to reduce net human suffering by limiting the right of parties to a conflict to use methods and means of warfare and to protect persons and property that may be affected by conflict. As states are less willing to accept restrictions on how they fight than to accept restrictions on how they treat victims of war and less willing to accept restrictions on how they treat internal opponents than to accept restrictions on how they treat the nationals of other states, the laws concerning protection of victims are more elaborate than those which affect war fighting and the laws for international conflicts are more elaborate than those which apply to non-international conflicts. There is a debate concerning the extent to which the law applies to transnational non-state actors (the Global War on Terror). The course will address how law purports to regulate conduct in extreme situations. It will also endeavour to assess how new legal approaches might be used to strengthen the law and provide enhanced protection to victims of war. Specific topics addressed may vary from year to year depending on student and instructor interest. This course touches on some of the topics referred to in International Criminal Law but there is very little duplication and students interested in the subject matter could benefit from taking both courses.ENROLMENT: Limited to 16 students.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Class participation, in-course assignments and a major paper
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
PREREQUISITES: International Law is recommended
LAWS 2206 Kawaskimhon Aboriginal Rights Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
‘Kawaskimhon’ means ‘speaking with knowledge.’ This course involves participating in a national moot competition, which is typically based on a high profile case where Aboriginal rights are at issue. Each law school’s team is typically assigned to represent a party or an intervenor. The moot takes two days. Usually, on the first day, teams present oral argument based upon written factums, and on the second day, teams engage in a negotiation process. The host school determines the specific format. The moot problem is typically distributed in December, and the moot is held in early to mid-March. The course will require collective and individual work, extensive research, regular meetings, participation in negotiation and moot exercises, drafting a factum, and participating in the Kawaskimhon moot.
Please note: students may take only one competitive moot during their degree.
Student selection: Participation is open to both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students, with preference given to 3rd year students. Potential participants are to submit written applications. Interviews may also be required. The Selection Committee, among other factors, will consider the following criteria in determining who shall participate in the Aboriginal Law Moot:(a) Academic achievement;(b) Achievement in closely related law school courses such as Aboriginal Law, Constitutional Law, Legal Research and Writing, ADR, and Public Law.(c) Performance in any moot exercise, requirement, course or setting;(d) Record of commitment to Aboriginal justice issues;(e) Career plans that may relate to Aboriginal justice issues;(f) Membership or affiliation with any Aboriginal community;(g) Any other feature of the applicant’s background, experience or plans which closely relates to the Aboriginal Moot; and(h) Participation in any interview, competition, selection process at the discretion of the Selection Committee.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Letter and number grade based upon research, written factum, and performance and participation as a member of the moot team both during preparation as well as during the moot itself. Participation in the class satisfies the major paper writing requirement, if the student wishes to count the moot as a major paper.
COREQUISITES:
LAWS 2280.03 Aboriginal Peoples and the Law, and at least one of the following:
LAWS 2290.03 Advanced Aboriginal Peoples,
LAWS 2289.02 Indigenous Law as Practice, or
LAWS 2270.03 Indigenous Governance
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2280.03 Aboriginal Peoples and the Law, and at least one of the following:
LAWS 2290.03 Advanced Aboriginal Peoples,
LAWS 2289.02 Indigenous Law as Practice, or
LAWS 2270.03 Indigenous Governance
LAWS 2207 Gender, Sexuality and the Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course examines the intersection of law, gender and sexuality and reviews the legal treatment of women and sexual minorities in a number of legal contexts. This course is open to all second and third year students interested in writing a major paper that explores issues of gender and/ or sexuality as they relate to law. The course introduces theoretical frameworks including feminist legal theory, gender theory, and queer legal theory and explores how these frameworks pertain in legal contexts regarding issues of sexualized violence, equality for sexual and gender minorities, the criminalization of HIV and the relationship between colonialism and sex and gender based harms.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Class participation, 30% (reaction esays and presentations of research to clas) and major paper (70%)
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2210 Law and Religion
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course focuses on the relationship between law and religion in a secular, democratic, multi-faith state and, in particular, how the law in Canada both protects and restricts the practice of religion. The course considers a range of issues which may change from year to year. Topics addressed in previous years include: freedom of religion in Canada, human rights protection against differential treatment based on religion as well as exceptions to that protection, judicial review of decision making by religious institutions, polygamy, faith-based arbitration, the refusal of medical treatment on religious grounds, and the use of religious-based reasoning in public discourse and in law-making.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper, as well as in-class presentations/participation/reaction papers.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2211 Law of International Trade and Shipping
CREDIT HOURS: 2
International trade is the aggregate of thousands of individual transactions. This seminar will offer students the opportunity to explore the different ways that the products moving in international trade are bought and sold, and delivered by sea. The Canadian and international law and practice governing these transactions will be studied in order to understand the rights and responsibilities of the various stakeholders, such as manufacturers/sellers, ocean carriers, cargo owners and importers/purchasers.ENROLLMENT: Limited to 16 students. Please note: Registration procedures and wait-lists are set up separately for each of the 2-credit and 3-credit options.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Either for 2 credits by a combination of in-class oral participation and several short take-home written assignments OR for 3 credits by in-class oral participation and a major research paper. This course may be counted towards a Certificate of Specialization in Marine Law or in Business Law.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hrs per week, for 2 or 3 credits at the student's option
LAWS 2212 Law of International Trade & Shipping
CREDIT HOURS: 3
International trade is the aggregate of thousands of individual transactions. This seminar will offer students the opportunity to explore assumptions, practices and laws with respect to international trade and shipping. The seminar outcomes will be to provide students with an overview of: 1) some of the sources of applicable law and policy; 2) the terminology and some of standardized forms used in seaborne international trade; 3) some of the stakeholders and their respective rights and responsibilities; and 4) the processes and risks associated with international trade transactions. ENROLLMENT: Limited to 16 students. Please note: Registration procedures and wait-lists are set up separately for each of the 2-credit and 3-credit options.
NOTES: This course may be counted towards a Certificate of Specialization in Marine Law or in Business Law.
Assessment Method: Either for 2 credit hours by a combination of in-class oral participation and several short take-home written assignments OR for 3 credit hours by in-class oral participation, a short problem and a major research paper.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hrs per week, for 2 or 3 credits at the student's option
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMHA, JDMLIS, and JDMPA.
LAWS 2214 Energy Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The course offers a general introduction of global and national energy issues, including energy security, energy demand and supply, the range of energy sources available, and the social, economic and environmental consequences of the choices. Following this broad introduction, the course focuses on the production, distribution, sale and consumption of electricity. It considers a range of law and policy issues dealing with electricity, including the regulatory process, implications for environmental, aboriginal, property, and trade law issues.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper as well as participation and class presentation.
LAWS 2215 European Union Law: EUCE Visiting Professorship
CREDIT HOURS: 1
The European Union is arguably the most fully developed supranational organization in the world. This short introductory course on European Union Law is supported by a grant from the European Union to allow a visiting professor from Europe to teach at the Law School in connection with the European Union Centre of Excellence (EUCE) at Dalhousie University. Topics covered will normally include: the historical and other origins of the European Union; its legislative institutions and their powers (Commission, Council and European Parliament); its adjudicative institutions and their powers (Court of Justice of the European Union and the General Court); the relationship between European Union law and the national legal systems of member states; the mechanisms for enforcement of EU law; and the changes brought about since the entry into force on 1 December 2009 of the Treaty of Lisbon. From year to year, other substantive legal topics addressed may include a selection from among: regulation of the European internal market (customs union, free movement of goods and free movement of persons and services); the EU's Economic and Monetary Union; EU competition law and intellectual property; European administrative law; European consumer law; European labour law; European environmental law; European education and social policy; or European regional development policy. This course focuses on EU competition law given its importance in Canadian-EU trade and commercial activity.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Evaluation will be by examination and/or short paper. Some years the course may be offered on a pass/fail basis. Full details of evaluation will be provided to students prior to registration each year.
FORMAT COMMENTS: The format varies, but the 16 hours can be taught either as (a) an intensive course over a few days including one or two days of a weekend or (b) two hours per day for eight days in a two week period. The course is normally at the beginning of term and is for one credit.
PREREQUISITES: None. Note: students who have already taken this course may not register for it again
LAWS 2216 Current Issues in Corporate Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This seminar examines current and enduring issues in corporate law. The precise content of the course will vary from year to year depending on the instructor. However, topics to be covered may include, but are not limited to, theories of the firm and capital markets, limited liability, corporate governance, comparative corporate law, and the production of corporate laws.ENROLMENT: 16 students
NOTES: Assessment Method: Class participation and a major paper
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
PREREQUISITES: Business Associations
LAWS 2217 Intellectual Property & Commercialization Placement
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The course provides students with an out-of-classroom opportunity to work under supervision with individuals involved in the commercialization of intellectual property and technology transfer arrangements within and outside the university system. Students will have the opportunity to do hands-on practical assignments in intellectual property and related confidential business information from the research state throughout the intellectual property (Patent) application processes to actual commercialization initiatives. Students will be exposed to the complex chains of interactions between researcher, intellectual property administrators and investors in the commercialization of intellectual property. The weekly placement commitment of 7-10 hours is required of participating students.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Students will be evaluated, in part, on the basis of their performance in respect of the program of work described above. In addition, they are to submit a substantial piece of a gradable written work arising from their experience in the program. That work, which will be submitted to the Faculty Supervisor, is subject to standing rules on research paper and plagiarism in the Law School. It will not exceed 25 pages A4 size double spaced in 12”font, including footnotes. The Faculty Supervisor, in consultation with the ILI Placement Supervisor will review copies of the student’s written work in the placement program and the Placements Supervisor’s overall report on the student’s performance, will assign a grade of “Honours”, “Pass” or “Failure”
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 credits
PREREQUISITES: Intellectual Property Laws 2178
LAWS 2218 Construction Law
CREDIT HOURS: 2
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the principles and practice of construction law. In the construction industry the activities of owners, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and their employees are regulated by a distinct body of legal principles, and this course will systematically consider the most important rules comprising this area of law. Topics addressed include the law of tendering and requests for proposals, construction contracts, including standard form agreements, builders' liens, insurance and bonding, remedies in contract and in tort, the place of architects and engineers, and the mediation and arbitration of construction disputes.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Written examination
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 2 credits