Topic 6: International Climate Law. Multilateral efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are expected to result in a world of 3.2 warming. Yet climate scientists and politicians alike declare this outcome to be a reckless gamble, creating the risk of tipping points in the earth's climate system and cascading failures which will imperil ecosystems and society. What is the role of innovative climate lawyers to steer global efforts towards success? To answer this question, this course will dedicate itself to examining the international legal and policy features which govern efforts to manage global climate change. It asks how the dominant legal response has performed, and what reforms are vital for the climate regime's future. The course will be structured in two parts. The first describes the broad features of international climate law, including the key treaties, principles, multilateral fora and case law. The second half of the course will focus on the law and policy which underpins the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- the primary multilateral forum for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the UNFCCC, we trace its legal evolution from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 2015 Paris Agreement, and identify key factors which enable or constrain its success. The desired outcome from this course is to not only understand the contours of international climate law, but also -- and especially -- opportunities to adopt decades-old approaches in ways that are relevant for 21st century environmental problems. A distinct feature of this course will be to engage practitioner insights working at the frontier of international climate law. Guest speakers include the former United States Special Envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, international climate legal scholar Daniel Bodansky, and a litigant working on the pioneering, human-rights based approach to climate litigation through the Urgenda campaign. Topic 7: Constitutional Amendment in Canada and the World. No part of any constitution is more important than the rules used to change it. This course will situate the Constitution of Canada at the centre of our comparative inquiry into how constitutions change around the world. What are the rules of constitutional amendment in Canada in relation to standard design around the world? Is there anything unique about how amendment works (or fails) in Canada? What makes the Canadian Constitution one the world's most difficult to amend? And why doesn't the Canadian Constitution make anything unamendable, unlike other countries in the world, which protect human dignity, federalism, and secularism against amendment? We will discover through our readings and discussions that constitutional amendment rules open a window into the soul of a constitution, simultaneously exposing its deepest vulnerabilities and revealing its greatest strengths. Over the course of the term, we will host guest professors in our seminar-style discussions. Topic 8: Human Rights EU Perspective The course includes a study of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), one of the most successful international human rights instruments, adopted by the Council of Europe, and its judicial institution, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). At the same time the course provides information on the European Union (EU) human rights jurisdiction, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, competencies of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the application of the Charter and the links between the two European human rights systems. The course seeks to provide answers to such central questions as: what are the Council of Europe and the EU? What rights and freedoms are protected under the ECHR? What are the rules for submitting an application to the ECtHR? What are the rules of proceedings of the ECtHR and how are decisions enforced? What are the differences between the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? What are the links between the two European jurisdictions and why accession of the EU to the ECHR is a shared objective of both systems? Exploration of these issues is performed through a combination of the study of history, role and activities of the Council of Europe and the EU, as well as a comparative review of the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the case law of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Topic 9: Introduction to Canadian Oil and Gas Law Oil and Gas has been an important source of energy, powering and driving economies for over a century now. In our world today, more than 80 percent of the energy we consume is produced from oil and gas. The recent disruption in the supply and distribution of this commodity, occasioned by the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine (and the economic sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of that conflict) has even accorded more prominence to the discussion on the exploration and production of oil and gas to meet energy needs around the world. Canada has a proven oil reserves of 172 billion barrels and it could get even bigger as exploration technology advances. This makes Canada a major player in the global oil and gas market and the exploration of this rare commodity even all the more imperative. This course seeks to provide students with an introduction to the legal issues arising in the oil and gas industry and setting out the legal framework regulating the oil and gas industry in Canada and elsewhere. The course will discuss petroleum ownership theories, the interaction between the oil and gas industry and the Indigenous peoples of Canada, fiscal considerations and the financing of oil and gas projects; various international petroleum agreements and their distinct features; nature and development of oil and gas leases in Canada; and current issues of sustainable development. Topic 12: Coding for Lawyers This course will introduce students to basic elements of computer programming for legal applications. Topics covered will include (i) setting up coding environments with an emphasis on computational requirements, (ii) familiarization with a high-level programming language like Python, (iii) basic introduction to the theory of natural language processing (NLP) and text processing, (iv) practical usage of the aforementioned in scenarios involving legal document analysis, (v) practical exploration of the application of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to legal work. This course will allow law students to have an overview and understanding of the current technological landscape centered around AI, while enabling students to have hands-on experience. Topic 14: Learning Anishinaabe Law from the Land at Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre (ELEEC) Can a river have standing? Can a porcupine teach a legal precedent? Can wild rice be a legal person? Anishinaabe law would answer yes to each of these questions. Canadian and U.S. law are learning to listen and adapt (to varying degrees) to how Indigenous legal orders are uniquely constituted in relation to the Earth. This course explores (1) Anishinaabe law sourced from the Earth (2) how Indigenous and non-Indigenous legal orders can better reconcile with one another on matters related to constitutional, property and environmental law, and (3) consider some foundational theoretical questions including how do we listen to plants, animals, water, rocks (etc.) so their needs are best met? Our ability to create and live Earth-centric laws will be essential to our collective survival as both humans and more-than-humans in this era of unprecedented climate change. We will investigate these themes through invited guest speakers, readings, conversations with one another, and time spent together outside on the Land. This course will take place entirely at Queen's University's Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, a 30-minute drive north of Queen's Law School. Participants have the choice to stay overnight in cabins at the Elbow Lake Centre or drive up each day for the learning sessions. There will be no additional costs for this course (transport, meals, accommodation etc. included). Given the intensive nature of this course, students must be able to attend each of the four days. Topic 16: Criminal Appellate Advocacy This intensive seminar introduces students to the specialized field of criminal appellate law. Students will learn the history and animating principles of criminal appeals, explore the statutory heads of criminal appellate power, and hear from practitioners about the daily realities of appellate practice. Students will conclude the course by examining special topics on emerging trends in in the world of criminal appeals.
Topic 6: International Climate Law. Multilateral efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are expected to result in a world of 3.2 warming. Yet climate scientists and politicians alike declare this outcome to be a reckless gamble, creating the risk of tipping points in the earth's climate system and cascading failures which will imperil ecosystems and society. What is the role of innovative climate lawyers to steer global efforts towards success? To answer this question, this course will dedicate itself to examining the international legal and policy features which govern efforts to manage global climate change. It asks how the dominant legal response has performed, and what reforms are vital for the climate regime's future. The course will be structured in two parts. The first describes the broad features of international climate law, including the key treaties, principles, multilateral fora and case law. The second half of the course will focus on the law and policy which underpins the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) -- the primary multilateral forum for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Under the UNFCCC, we trace its legal evolution from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the 2015 Paris Agreement, and identify key factors which enable or constrain its success. The desired outcome from this course is to not only understand the contours of international climate law, but also -- and especially -- opportunities to adopt decades-old approaches in ways that are relevant for 21st century environmental problems. A distinct feature of this course will be to engage practitioner insights working at the frontier of international climate law. Guest speakers include the former United States Special Envoy for climate change, Todd Stern, international climate legal scholar Daniel Bodansky, and a litigant working on the pioneering, human-rights based approach to climate litigation through the Urgenda campaign. Topic 7: Constitutional Amendment in Canada and the World. No part of any constitution is more important than the rules used to change it. This course will situate the Constitution of Canada at the centre of our comparative inquiry into how constitutions change around the world. What are the rules of constitutional amendment in Canada in relation to standard design around the world? Is there anything unique about how amendment works (or fails) in Canada? What makes the Canadian Constitution one the world's most difficult to amend? And why doesn't the Canadian Constitution make anything unamendable, unlike other countries in the world, which protect human dignity, federalism, and secularism against amendment? We will discover through our readings and discussions that constitutional amendment rules open a window into the soul of a constitution, simultaneously exposing its deepest vulnerabilities and revealing its greatest strengths. Over the course of the term, we will host guest professors in our seminar-style discussions. Topic 8: Human Rights EU Perspective The course includes a study of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), one of the most successful international human rights instruments, adopted by the Council of Europe, and its judicial institution, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). At the same time the course provides information on the European Union (EU) human rights jurisdiction, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, competencies of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) in the application of the Charter and the links between the two European human rights systems. The course seeks to provide answers to such central questions as: what are the Council of Europe and the EU? What rights and freedoms are protected under the ECHR? What are the rules for submitting an application to the ECtHR? What are the rules of proceedings of the ECtHR and how are decisions enforced? What are the differences between the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights? What are the links between the two European jurisdictions and why accession of the EU to the ECHR is a shared objective of both systems? Exploration of these issues is performed through a combination of the study of history, role and activities of the Council of Europe and the EU, as well as a comparative review of the ECHR and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the case law of the ECtHR and the CJEU. Topic 9: Introduction to Canadian Oil and Gas Law Oil and Gas has been an important source of energy, powering and driving economies for over a century now. In our world today, more than 80 percent of the energy we consume is produced from oil and gas. The recent disruption in the supply and distribution of this commodity, occasioned by the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine (and the economic sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of that conflict) has even accorded more prominence to the discussion on the exploration and production of oil and gas to meet energy needs around the world. Canada has a proven oil reserves of 172 billion barrels and it could get even bigger as exploration technology advances. This makes Canada a major player in the global oil and gas market and the exploration of this rare commodity even all the more imperative. This course seeks to provide students with an introduction to the legal issues arising in the oil and gas industry and setting out the legal framework regulating the oil and gas industry in Canada and elsewhere. The course will discuss petroleum ownership theories, the interaction between the oil and gas industry and the Indigenous peoples of Canada, fiscal considerations and the financing of oil and gas projects; various international petroleum agreements and their distinct features; nature and development of oil and gas leases in Canada; and current issues of sustainable development. Topic 12: Coding for Lawyers This course will introduce students to basic elements of computer programming for legal applications. Topics covered will include (i) setting up coding environments with an emphasis on computational requirements, (ii) familiarization with a high-level programming language like Python, (iii) basic introduction to the theory of natural language processing (NLP) and text processing, (iv) practical usage of the aforementioned in scenarios involving legal document analysis, (v) practical exploration of the application of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence to legal work. This course will allow law students to have an overview and understanding of the current technological landscape centered around AI, while enabling students to have hands-on experience. Topic 14: Learning Anishinaabe Law from the Land at Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre (ELEEC) Can a river have standing? Can a porcupine teach a legal precedent? Can wild rice be a legal person? Anishinaabe law would answer yes to each of these questions. Canadian and U.S. law are learning to listen and adapt (to varying degrees) to how Indigenous legal orders are uniquely constituted in relation to the Earth. This course explores (1) Anishinaabe law sourced from the Earth (2) how Indigenous and non-Indigenous legal orders can better reconcile with one another on matters related to constitutional, property and environmental law, and (3) consider some foundational theoretical questions including how do we listen to plants, animals, water, rocks (etc.) so their needs are best met? Our ability to create and live Earth-centric laws will be essential to our collective survival as both humans and more-than-humans in this era of unprecedented climate change. We will investigate these themes through invited guest speakers, readings, conversations with one another, and time spent together outside on the Land. This course will take place entirely at Queen's University's Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, a 30-minute drive north of Queen's Law School. Participants have the choice to stay overnight in cabins at the Elbow Lake Centre or drive up each day for the learning sessions. There will be no additional costs for this course (transport, meals, accommodation etc. included). Given the intensive nature of this course, students must be able to attend each of the four days. Topic 16: Criminal Appellate Advocacy This intensive seminar introduces students to the specialized field of criminal appellate law. Students will learn the history and animating principles of criminal appeals, explore the statutory heads of criminal appellate power, and hear from practitioners about the daily realities of appellate practice. Students will conclude the course by examining special topics on emerging trends in in the world of criminal appeals.
