Oonagh E. Fitzgerald

Valerie Hughes

Mark Jewett

Marking 150 years since Confederation provides an opportunity for Canadian international law practitioners and scholars to reflect on Canada’s rich history in international law and governance, where we find ourselves today in the community of nations, and how we might help shape a future in which Canada’s rules-based and progressive approach to international law gains ascendancy. This collection of essays, each written in the official language chosen by the authors, provides a thoughtful perspective on Canada’s past and present in international law, surveys the challenges that lie before us, and offers renewed focus for Canada’s pursuit of global justice and the rule of law. Part I explores the history and practice of international law, including sources of international law, Indigenous treaties, international treaty diplomacy, domestic reception of international law, and Parliament’s role in international law. Part II explores Canada’s role in international law, governance and innovation in the broad fields of economic, environmental, and intellectual property law. Part III explores Canadian perspectives on developments in international human rights and humanitarian law, including judicial implementation of these obligations, international labour law, business and human rights, international criminal law, war crimes, child soldiers, and gender. Reflections on Canada’s Past, Present and Future in International Law/Réflexions sur le passé, le présent et l’avenir du Canada en droit international demonstrates the pivotal role that Canada has played in the development of international law and signals the essential contributions the country is poised to make in the future.

Reflections on Canada's Past, Present and Future in International Law/Réflexions sur le passé, le présent et l'avenir du Canada en droit international

John Borrows

Risa Schwartz

Larry Chartrand

Implementation in Canada of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is a pivotal opportunity to explore the relationship between international law, Indigenous peoples' own laws, and Canada's constitutional narratives. Two significant statements by the current Liberal government - the May 2016 address by Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett to the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations and the September 2017 address to the United Nations by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau - have endorsed UNDRIP and committed Canada to implementing it as “a way forward” on the path to genuine nation-to-nation relationships with Indigenous peoples. In response, these essays engage with the legal, historical, political, and practical aspects of UNDRIP implementation. Written by Indigenous legal scholars and policy leaders, and guided by the metaphor of braiding international, domestic, and Indigenous laws into a strong, unified whole composed of distinct parts, the book makes visible the possibilities for reconciliation from different angles and under different lenses.

Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Braiding Legal Orders

Corporate and international law experts make the case for closer scrutiny and control of "global corporate citizens."

New Perspectives on the Globalized Rule of Law

Corporate Citizen

The contributors to Corporate Citizen explore the legal frameworks and standards of conduct for multinational corporations. In a globalized world governed by domestic and international law, these corporations can be everywhere and nowhere at once, reaping financial benefits and enjoying the protections of investor-state arbitration but rarely being held accountable for the economic, environmental, and human rights harms they may have caused. Given the far-reaching power and success of the transnational corporation, and the many legal tools allowing these companies to avoid liability, how can governments protect their citizens? Broad-ranging in perspective, colourful and thought-provoking, the chapters in Corporate Citizen make the case that because the success of corporate global citizenship risks undermining national and international democratic governance, the multinational corporation must be more closely scrutinized and controlled – in the service of humanity and the protection of the natural environment.

Oonagh E. Fitzgerald

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