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The Peter A. Allard School of Law's innovative researchers, inspiring teachers, and outstanding graduates have established our national reputation and global reach. The Faculty is committed to preparing our students to become exceptional global citizens, to conducting leading-edge research that serves our community nationally and internationally, and to promoting the values of a just, civil and sustainable society.
The Allard School of Law is proud to foster a research environment that pulls faculty, students, and visitors into collaborative and challenging research projects. Our outstanding graduate programs offer students the opportunity to study law from within law’s wider social, economic, and political context, and select courses from a comprehensive and progressive curriculum that emphasizes foundational knowledge, scholarly innovation, ethics, and the development of professional skills.
Legal research that employs the perspectives of different disciplines, contexts, and methodologies makes the Allard School of Law an exciting and rewarding research centre. And, as the stories on the Allard School of Law show, research done here changes peoples’ lives.
The Allard School of Law's more than 10,000 alumni include:
- The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
- The Right Honourable Kim Campbell, PC, CC, OBC, former Prime Minister of Canada
- The Honourable Ujjal Dosanjh, former Premier of British Columbia and former Canadian Minister of Health
- The Honourable Mike Harcourt, OC, former Premier of British Columbia
- The Honourable Lance Finch, QC, retired Chief Justice of British Columbia
- The Honourable Frank Iacobucci, CC, QC, LSM, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
- The Honourable Wally Oppal, QC, former Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, former Attorney General of British Columbia, and former Minister responsible for Multiculturalism
- The Honourable Steven L. Point, OBC, former Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, and current ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà Chancellor and Provincial Court Judge
- The Honourable Alfred Scow, CM, OBC, first Indigenous lawyer called to the British Columbia bar and first legally trained Indigenous Judge in the province
- Justice Ardith Walkem, QC, first Indigenous woman judge in the province, and both an LLB and LLM alumna
- The Honourable Patricia Proudfoot, OBC, first female judge in BC
Research Centres
Research Facilities
Allard Hall, home of the Allard School of Law, creates a welcoming and inspiring learning, research and meeting place for students, faculty, staff and the wider legal community.
Opened in 2011, the $56-million four-storey, 141,000 square-foot building and $56-million facility includes flexible, modern teaching spaces, a replica courtroom, and dedicated spaces for the faculty’s nearly 650 students, 45 full-time faculty, plus alumni and guests. Classroom video displays and webcasting technology will connect ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà students with law schools and communities globally. A three-storey multipurpose forum with floor-to-ceiling windows converts from a social area to an auditorium for special events and lectures. The new state-of-the-art ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà Law Library serves as an academic hub for students and the legal community.
With powerful learning and sustainability features, Allard Hall – named after donor and alumnus Peter A. Allard – provides a space to advance legal research and education in Canada, expand the Faculty’s presence in the community, and honour its ties to BCÌýFirst Nations.
Research Highlights
The Allard School of Law is home to a dynamic, accomplished, and diverse group of faculty who make innovative and influential contributions to understanding the underpinning of the law, cutting edge developments in legal practice, the development of policy, and the progress of civil society at both national and international levels. The Faculty’s research is regularly cited by scholars, courts, and policymakers across the country and around the world.
The Allard School of Law has led Canada in curricular and research innovation with important programs focusing on areas including social justice, business law, environmental law, sustainability and Asian legal studies. Our faculty members carry out their research and teaching objectives with a commitment to pursuing social justice.Ìý
Key areas of faculty research include international law, Indigenous legal studies, environmental law and sustainability, migration, human trafficking, affordable housing, and criminal law and policy. Allard Hall is home to Centres of business law, environmental law and natural resources, Asian legal studies, and feminist legal studies.
Allard Hall is also home to affiliated law reform organizations: British Columbia Law Institute, which includes the Canadian Center for Elder Law Studies, and the UN-affiliated International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy.
Graduate Degree Programs
Research Supervisors in Faculty
| Name | Research Interests |
|---|---|
| Hastie, Bethany | Labour & Employment Law, Human Rights, Socio-Legal Studies, Access to Justice |
| Hilland, Andrea | Law (except legal practice and international law); Aboriginal and Indigenous law; Administrative law and regulatory governance; Environmental law, natural resources, and climate change; Legal ethics and the legal profession |
| Hofri-Winogradow, Adam | Equity and trusts law; Business, commercial and corporate law; Legal institutions (including courts and justice systems); Legal theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation; Law and society; Administrative law and regulatory governance; Asian legal studies; Banking and finance law; Business, corporate and commercial law; Civil law; Comparative Law; Law and social justice; legal history; Property and real estate; Tax law and policy; Trusts and equity; Urban and municipal law |
| Hutchison, Camden | Business, corporate and commercial law; Contract law; legal history |
| Iyioha, Irehobhude | Social justice advocacy, Feminist legal studies, Health law and policy, Human rights, International humanitarian law, Jurisprudence, legal theory, and critical studies, Law and social justice, Tort law |
| Joshi, Yuvraj | Constitutional and comparative law, Racial equality law, Gender and sexuality law, Critical perspectives on human rights |
| Kaushal, Asha | Cultural Difference and Law; Constitutional Law and Theory; Critical and Legal Theory; Immigration Law; Citizenship Law; international law |
| Kong, Hoi | Administrative Law; Comparative Law; Constitutional law; Environmental Law; Legal theory; Regulatory Design and Governance |
| Lazarus, Liora | |
| LeBaron, Michelle | law, dispute resolution, conflict resolution, community conflict, cross-cultural conflict resolution, Cross-cultural Conflict Resolution, Law, Legal Culture and Conflict Resolution, Conflict across Worldview Differences, Creativity and Conflict, Gender and Conflict, Religion and Conflict, Teaching Innovation and Effective Teaching and Learning |
| Liao, Carol | Business Law, Corporate Governance, Sustainable Development Law, Law and Economics, Social Enterprise Law, Access to Justice |
| Lin, Li-Wen | Comparative corporate governance; Corporate social responsibility; The interdisciplinary study of corporate law and economic sociology; Law and economic development; Chinese law |
| Liston, Mary | Administrative law; Constitutional law; Public Law; Administrative Law; Jurisprudence; Rule of law; Comparative public law; Law and literature; Law and politics; Democracy; Values and norm systems; Political regimes; Indigenous law |
| MacDougall, Bruce | Law of Obligations, Sexual Orientation and the Law, Secured Transactions, Commercial Transactions |
| Mack, Johnny | legal relationship between indigenous and settler peoples in contemporary settler states, particularly Canada |
| Matsui, Shigenori | Constitutional Law, Mass Media Law, Information Law, Internet Law, Japanese Law, Law and Medicine |
| Mickelson, Karin | Environmental law |
| Moore, Marcus | Law (except legal practice and international law); Law of Obligations (especially Contracts); Socio-Economic Regulation (especially Standard Form Contracts, Consumer Protection); Regulatory Theory and Design / Governance / New Governance; Law & Society / Socio-Legal Studies / Law in Social Context; Sports Law, Governance & Regulation (especially Injury Prevention); Law Reform; Public Law, Administration and Governance; Tech Regulation (especially Neuroscience); Jurisprudence & Critical Perspectives (especially Critical Disability Theory) |
| Parkes, Debra | Constitutional law; criminal law; Critical Prison Studies; Feminist Legal Studies; Socio-Legal Studies; Human Rights; Societal injustices through rights claims; incarceration of women; limits of prison reform; framing and adjudicating of prisoners' rights claims |
| Pavlich, Dennis | Property law, law of trusts, western idea of law, education law, condominium law in British Columbia, academic freedom, environmental justice |
| Peihani, Maziar | Banking Law; Business Law; Corporate Law; international law; Financial Law; Banking Regulation; Resolution of cross-border bank failures; Sovereign debt restructuring, and disclosure; Governance of climate-related financial risk |
| Perrin, Benjamin | Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, International Criminal Law, Victims of Crime, Human Trafficking and Child Sexual Exploitation |
| Pindell, Ngai | Property law, Affordable housing, Community development, Local government law |
| Reynolds, Graham | Intellectual property law; Copyright law; property law; Intellectual property and human rights; Intellectual property and climate change; Intellectual property and social justice; Technology and access to justice |
| Routh, Supriya | Law (except legal practice and international law); Asian legal studies; Human rights including international human rights; Jurisprudence, legal theory, and critical studies; Labour and employment law including international labour law; law and development; Law and social justice; Law and society |
Pages
Recent Publications
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by ÑÇÖÞÌìÌà faculty members with a primary appointment in the Peter A. Allard School of Law.
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Doctoral Citations
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Dr. Aikenhead examined the Canadian criminal justice response to technology-facilitated intimate partner violence (TFIPV) through a review of recent case law. She identified concerns and gaps in the legal response from a feminist perspective. Her proposed legislative and policy reforms will assist victims of TFIPV in accessing justice. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2022 | The law of negligence claims to deter accidental wrongdoers from causing harm. The mixed doctrinal and qualitative research in this dissertation suggest that in the law of negligence in Canada, deterrence is largely illusory. Potential wrongdoers are so well protected by liability insurance that there is little inclination to avoid causing harm. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Sankey studied legal processes developed by Squamish Nation for land use planning and environmental assessment of natural gas projects. Her research finds that in developing policy aimed at reconciliation, Canadian governments will learn much by shifting their focus away from principles of consultation defined by Canadian courts, toward processes for achieving consent established by Indigenous nations. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Dzah studied how Africa influences and is influenced by the concept of sustainable development. He argued that ethics and customary and Indigenous norms can revitalise the legal dimensions of this concept. He proposed ecological law as a new way to theorise and implement sustainable development and to reorganise links between society and nature. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2021 | Dr. Nickason examines Canada's efforts to give effect to First Nations' rights of self-determination and self-government. She demonstrates that cultural differences, in the ways First Nations and settler societies conceive of legitimacy, have undermined our capacity to negotiate new arrangements to give effect to these rights. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Pilliar developed a new person-centered approach to understand and remedy access to justice problems. Drawing on analyses of the legal services landscape, interview research with people who have had access to justice problems, and data on how lawyers do their work, Dr. Pilliar proposes four tangible steps to improve access to justice in Canada. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2020 | Dr. Yorgun studied ostracized populations, understudied in refugee law, conducting novel interviews in South Africa. Dr. Yorgun's research unmasked a bias in refugee law which predominantly focuses on the asylum systems of Western states. She demonstrates this must be overcome to better understand some of the most vulnerable, least mobile refugees. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Pauer studied carbon tariffs, an environmental policy recommended by many experts but rarely used in practice. Using interviews and case studies in Europe and the USA, he explained the challenges of adopting and implementing this policy. His research contributes to the development of effective government action to address climate change. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Naef studied the challenges of regulating multinational corporations operating in fragile states. He argued that home states must take steps to control their corporate citizens abroad and showed how traditional readings of international law permit them to avoid doing so. His proposed solution lies in reconsidering customary international law. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2019 | Dr. Liu examined the social and environmental performance of Chinese state-owned companies in Kenya. Findings revealed the promises and limitations of China's state-centric corporate social responsibility approach to shape Chinese companies' behaviour overseas. This research contributes to the regulation of sustainable investment in Africa and beyond. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |