Course Descriptions
LAWS 2219 Regulatory Systems in Environment and Health
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This advanced level course bridges the separation of human health and environmental protection into distinct areas of legal concern. Using their distinct but overlapping regulatory systems as a comparative lens for understanding underlying theoretical and practical assumptions, the course considers current and potential interaction and integration between the two fields. Topics to be explored will vary from year to year but will include issues such as: international law and governance on health and environment; human rights and health and environment; gender and health and environment; comparative regulatory theory and practice; health and environment in relation to First Nations and other aboriginal communities; occupational safety and health; linkages between human health and pesticides, climate change and other leading environmental issues; food production and security and the role and implications of technology.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Examination and a participation component, possibly including class exercises.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 hours per week, 3 credits
PREREQUISITES: Health Law:
LAWS 2132 OR Environmental Law 1:
LAWS 2104
LAWS 2220 Privacy Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course is designed to expose students to a wide variety of legal issues that arise in the field of privacy. It will provide students with an opportunity to explore what privacy is, to examine how laws protect or invade privacy, and to examine other legal interests which compete with privacy interests. Topics covered may include: privacy legislation; tort and Charter protections; the roles of Federal and Provincial Privacy Commissioners; privacy rights in a variety of spheres; e.g. home, public space, workplace and healthcare service delivery; the role of technology vis-à-vis privacy; and the effects of post 9/11 security legislation on privacy.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major paper. Class participation and in-class presentations may also make up a portion of the grade.
LAWS 2221 Public Health Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
Protection of the public’s health has historically been one of the critical functions of the State; witness early laws regarding quarantine, sanitation, and food quality control. Both SARS and HIV have served as recent wake-up calls to remind us of the importance of regulation in the control of infectious disease outbreaks. The prevalence of obesity and diabetes prompts some to recommend state intervention in hitherto-unchecked areas of life often considered private. How is the balance to be set vis-à-vis state interference when juggling the values of individual liberty, privacy interests, protection of the public, and the promotion of health? This course examines these legal and ethical issues via the above topics as well as some of the following: compulsory testing and treatment for infectious disease; vaccination; drug and tobacco control; surveillance and research; genetics; maternity and parenting; and environmental impacts on health.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Major research paper, class presentation, and class participation
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits
LAWS 2222 Patent Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This class provides students with an opportunity for in-depth examination of the scheme of the Canadian patent statute and case law. It engages in intense exploration of patent law in the context of cutting edge technologies in diverse areas, including digital technology and biotechnology, especially in the pharmaceutical, health agriculture and general research contexts. In addition, the course will explore other regimes for the protection of commercially sensitive information under statute and common law such as trade secrets and other commercial business information. The course will be taught with emphasis on common law, statutory regimes and Canadian case law. In appropriate cases, comparative perspectives on other Jurisdictions, especially the United Stated and European Union could be explored.
NOTES: Assessment Method: 100% Final exam.
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2178, Intellectual Property Law
RESTRICTIONS: Restricted to students in the JD program or JD-combined programs: JDMBA, JDMHA, JDMLIS and JDMPA
LAWS 2223 Elder Law
CREDIT HOURS: 2
This course will allow students to explore selected topics concerning the legal implications of our aging population. A wide range of topics will be covered including elder abuse, age discrimination, competency, financial management, personal care, assisted living and government financial and support programs. The topics will incorporate consideration of relevant legislation and legal tools such as powers of attorney, living wills, trusts, wills and guardianship. Topics will be addressed either from a policy oriented perspective, or with the object of the development of practical skills, or both.
NOTES: Assessment Method: For
LAWS 2223 the 2 hour credit option: 10% class participation; 20% class presentation; and 70% take home examination and assignments. For
LAWS 2224 the 3 hour credit option: 10% class participation; 20% class presentation; and 70% paper. Please note: registration procedures and waitlists are set up separately for each of the 2 credit and 3 credit options.
PREREQUISITES: Any one of the Equity and Trusts, Family Law, Health Law, Law of Succession, or Taxation I
LAWS 2224 Elder Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course will allow students to explore selected topics concerning the legal implications of our aging population. A wide range of topics will be covered including elder abuse, age discrimination, competency, financial management, personal care, assisted living and government financial and support programs. The topics will incorporate consideration of relevant legislation and legal tools such as powers of attorney, living wills, trusts, wills and guardianship. Topics will be addressed either from a policy oriented perspective, or with the object of the development of practical skills, or both.
NOTES: Assessment Method: For
LAWS 2223 the 2 hour credit option: 10% class participation; 20% class presentation; and 70% take home examination and assignments. For
LAWS 2224 the 3 hour credit option: 10% class participation; 20% class presentation; and 70% paper. Please note: registration procedures and waitlists are set up separately for each of the 2 credit and 3 credit options.
PREREQUISITES: Any one of the Equity and Trusts, Family Law, Health Law, Law of Succession, or Taxation I
LAWS 2225 Environmental Law Placement
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Environmental Law Placement provides students with the opportunity to work with environmental law practitioners in Halifax during the winter term. Students will take part in the work of their host organization assisting with research and other tasks as requested, on a specific pre-selected project. Students will be required to spend nine hours a week on placement work. Placement can either be directly with the East Coast Environmental Law Association (ECEL), or, on request, with another suitable host organization, including government, with non-governmental organizations or with in-house council in the private sector. Students will be evaluated based oN performance in the placement including assessment of memoranda written for the placement supervisor as well as the major paper to be written on a related topic. Students will be assigned a project that is suitable as a major paper topic and are encouraged to write a major paper that is closely related to the placement project. While the overall evaluation of the placement will be conducted by the faculty supervisor. The placement supervisor will be consulted with respect to the student's performance in the placement as appropriate. This course fulfills the major paper requirement. Students will be selected by the Director of the Marine & Environmental Law Program (MELP) (in consultation with ECEL where applicable) based on academic standing, demonstrated interest in the field of environmental law and policy, and supervisor availability. Applicants who have already secured a placement with an external host organization will be required to submit a statement outlining the host’s capacity to supervise the placement (contact MELP for additional information). Only students who have taken Environmental Law I before the start of the placement will be considered. Interested students should apply in writing to the Marine & Environmental Law Program at melp@dal.ca in the academic year prior to the year in which they wish to participate in the placement program. Applications shall consist of a written statement confirming the student's experience and/or interest in environmental law, and a copy of law school grades to date.
Enrollment: Limited to 3 students.
NOTES: Faculty Supervisor: Director, MELP; Placement Supervisor: Executive Director, ECEL; or Placement Supervisor, host organization.
Assessment Method: Major Paper 60%; Placement feedback 40%
PREREQUISITES: Environmental Law I
LAWS 2227 Dealing with the Past: The Indian residential schools settlement
CREDIT HOURS: 1
This intensive course will study the Canadian Indian Residential School System, the abuses that occurred in and through the schools, and the Indian Residential Schools settlement and its implementation. Through this study the course offers a unique opportunity to study several aspects of Canada’s legal history, its current laws and to consider the strengths and weaknesses of different legal institutions and processes. It is timely as it coincides with and seeks to engage students in the current and historic settlement process. The course will cover the following topics: The History and Legacy of the Indian Residential Schools System; Claiming Abuse and Court Challenges; Dealing with Abuse Claims and Alternative Processes; The Negotiated Settlement; Dealing with the Past and IRS Settlement in an international context; The Challenges of Implementation and Assessing the Settlement.
NOTES: Students who have already taken this course may not register for it again.
FORMAT COMMENTS: This is an intensive 1 credit course.
LAWS 2230 Science and the Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This is a seminar in which students discuss, conduct research and write papers on issues relating to science and law. Class discussions focus on the interaction of science and law, the evaluation of scientific opinions and the use of science in policy making and the courts. The goal of the seminar is to enhance students' understanding of the use of science and their effectiveness as counsel and policy makers. Students are encouraged to write papers in their areas of interest. A science background is not required for enrolment in the seminar.
NOTES: Method of Assessment: Evaluation is based on a major paper, class participation and presentation.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hours per week, 3 credits.
LAWS 2231 Current Issues in Labour & Employment Law: Innis Christie Visiting Professor
CREDIT HOURS: 1
Three specialized legal regimes have governed labour and employment over the last half century: the common law, labour relations statutes for unionized sectors and employment standards codes for non-unionized employees. These have become supplemented by workers compensation legislation, unemployment insurance schemes, regulatory regimes for pensions, occupational health and safety statutes, and the like. Human rights legislation, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, international treaties and supra-national institutions have also had a striking impact on regulation of the workplace. In addition to these evolving legal parameters, the globalized “new economy” has changed the nature of work and its regulation in a need for what many Europeans term “flexicurity”: flexibility for workers and industries to compete successfully in new markets and security for vulnerable workers and industries as they face challenges under such conditions. Integrated labour markets are becoming a key subject of concern for those promoting balanced economic, social and political development under contemporary conditions for international trade and investment. This course will explore a constellation of these legal and policy issues, which may vary from year to year in accordance with the focus of the scholar invited to teach the course. The course is intended to reflect broad theoretical yet practical approaches as exemplified by former Dean Innis Christie when he taught these and related subjects at Dalhousie Law School for more than 30 years prior to his untimely death in 2009.
NOTES: Assessment Method: By examination or short paper on a pass/fail basis. Full details on evaluation will be provided to students prior to registration.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 1 credit intensive course.
COREQUISITES:
LAWS 2014.03: Labour Law or
LAWS 2048.03: Employment Law
LAWS 2232 Real Estate Transactions
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This course provides a comprehensive and practical introduction to real estate transactions. Legal principles underlying all aspects of the real estate transaction are examined in the context of a real estate conveyancing practice. Topics discussed include: real estate agency law; fixture; conditional contracts; risk of change; defect in the land and buildings; title problems; time is of the essence; merger on closing; deposits and part payment; land registration; possessory title; restrictive covenants; surveys, mortgages, condominiums and property development. The course is conducted by lecture and class discussion.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Final examination
LAWS 2233 Restitution
CREDIT HOURS: 2
The course is chiefly concerned with the action in unjust enrichment as a distinct category or private law liability. It will study the historical, definitional and doctrinal bases of the law of restitution and its role as an integral part of the common law alongside tort and contract. The central question -- what makes an enrichment unjust? -- will be discussed in relation to the following topics: payments made under mistake of law or fact, goods or services provided by mistake, compulsory discharge of another's obligation, benefits conferred under ineffective contracts and necessitous intervention. It will also study defences to such actions, including officiousness, compromise, submission, estoppels and change of position. In addition, it will examine benefits acquired through wrongful acts, including waiver of tort and breach of fiduciary obligations.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Term assignments, a class presentation and class participation.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 2 hrs a week
LAWS 2235 Mental Disability Law: Criminal
CREDIT HOURS: 2
This seminar provides an opportunity for students to explore the range of complex issues at the intersection of mental disability and criminal justice. Persons with mental health problems and intellectual disabilities have tended to be overrepresented in criminal courts and prisons and have been poorly served by institutions that concentrate on conventional concepts of moral blameworthiness and punishment. The course covers a wide range of topics, which vary from year to year, such as an introduction to mental disorder, intellectual disability and the criminal justice system; historical overview; the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; Criminalization: causes and potential responses; not criminally responsible and unfitness determinations and dispositions; mental health courts; youth, mental disability and crime; Intellectual disability and the justice system; mental disorder in sentencing; corrections law; concurrent disorders (mental health and substance abuse co-morbidities) or dual diagnoses (mental health problems and intellectual disabilities); specific challenges, such as anti-social personality disorders and sexual paraphilias; policing; recent criminal law “reforms”.
NOTE: Course Details listed here also apply to
LAWS 2236.
NOTES: Registration processes and waitlists are set up separately for each of the 2-credit and 3-credit options.
Assessment Method: Major paper (
LAWS 2236 3 credit hours) or term assignments (
LAWS 2235 2 credit hours); a class presentation and class participation are also required for each student.
LAWS 2236 Mental Disability Law:Criminal
CREDIT HOURS: 3
See
LAWS 2235.
LAWS 2238 Public Law Placement
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Public Law Placement provides students with the opportunity to work in the context of public service. Placement organizations are to be approved by Faculty Council. For the purpose of the Public Law Placement, the following are examples of “the context of public service”: government services; facilitation of access to justice for individuals or groups with limited or no access to legal information, advice ore representation; participation in activities that seek substantive law reform in the public interest; and provision of services that enhance the capacity of under-represented or marginalized groups to engage with the law and in legal processes. Students will take part in the work of their placement supervisor assisting with research and other tasks as requested. Students will be required to spend nine hours a week on placement work. Students will be evaluated on the basis of performance in the placement including assessment of memoranda written for the placement supervisor. Evaluation will be conducted by the faculty supervisor in consultation with the placement supervisor. This course does not fulfil the major paper requirement. Students will be selected by the faculty supervisor on the basis of academic standing, appropriate fit and demonstrated interest in the placement. Only third year students will be eligible. Interested students must apply to the faculty supervisor directly. Applications shall consist of a written statement confirming the student’s experience and/or interest and a copy of law school grades to date.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Honours/Pass/Fail
PREREQUISITES: Completion of second year.
LAWS 2239 Women & the Criminal Justice System
CREDIT HOURS: 3
FORMAT: Lecture
LAWS 2240 Federal Court Immigration and Refugee Law Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
This competitive moot concerns immigration, refugee and citizenship law. This moot was first held in 2020. It is based on a hypothetical current issue, and consists of an appeal from the federal court to a fictive ‘Crown Court of Canada’. This moot is overseen by the Immigration and Refugee Law Moot Advisory Group. This group consists of Federal Court judges, UNHCR representatives, immigration and refugee law lawyers and law clerks.
COREQUISITES:
LAWS 2097: Immigration and Refugee Law
PREREQUISITES:
LAWS 2097: Immigration and Refugee Law
LAWS 2245 Bowman National Tax Moot
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The Donald G Bowman National Tax Moot is designed to promote advocacy and excellence in the fields of tax law and policy, and to provide participants with the opportunity to interact with jurists and with experienced practitioners and academics of tax law. Student selection: Participation is open to 3rd year students. Potential participants must participate in the moot selection process in the winter term of their second year. Please note students may take only one competitive moot during their degree.
NOTES: Assessment Method: Research, written factum, and performance and participation as a member of the moot team both during preparation and during the moot itself.
Participation in the competition satisfies the major paper writing requirement, if the student wishes to count the moot as a major paper.
FORMAT COMMENTS: Three credits, in the Winter term. Some preliminary work will be required during the Fall.
PREREQUISITES: Taxation I; preference to students with one additional taxation course
LAWS 2246 Economic Analysis of Law
CREDIT HOURS: 3
The purpose of this course is to introduce to students the analysis of law from the perspective of economics. Economics offers an important theoretical perspective in the understanding of law and legal institutions. The economic analysis of law involves analysing the impact of law on society, as well as examining the question of what laws are most desirable for society. The fundamental objective is to understand and evaluate legal rules by asking how rational individuals can be expected to respond to them. Through the course, this approach will be applied to the law of property, contract, torts, procedure, criminal law and public law.
NOTES: This course does not fulfil the major paper requirement.
Assessment Method: Based on two assignments, a final essay and class participation.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 3 credits, 3 hours per week
LAWS 2247 Topics in Writing, Legal Research, and Oral Advocacy
CREDIT HOURS: 1
This one-credit intensive course is designed to expose students to a specialized topic in advanced writing, legal research, or oral advocacy. The precise topic to be explored in the course will be set in the course syllabus by the instructor.
NOTES: Attendance at every class is mandatory for this course.
FORMAT COMMENTS: 12 – 15 hours, intensive, scheduled not to interfere with other major course offerings, 1 credit.