The aim of this course is to introduce students to the main theoretical debates on the nature and purpose of international law. As a decentralized system aiming mainly to regulate relations between states, international law has been subject to much theoretical analysis. Traditional analyses of international law explore the legal nature of international law; its relations with natural law; the sources of its binding power; the nature of sovereignty and its relations to individual rights, as well as the purpose of international law. Newer, critical studies analyze international law and its relations to power: whether in terms of empire, gender, race, or class. In parallel, new methodologies to the study of international law are emerging: economic, empirical, and historical to name but a few.

This course seeks to acquaint students with contemporary debates on the theory of international law by close-reading and discussing, in each session, important works on the theory of international law. Because of international law's characteristics, universalist presumptions, and theoretical richness, discussing the theory of international law can shed law on the nature of law in general, both international or domestic.

The law possesses an inherent duality between society's normative ideals and its positive commitment to the relevance and importance of facts. In some areas of the law, normative considerations dominate, whereas in other areas positive considerations weigh more heavily. This tension complicates both legal doctrine and policy but is necessary in pursuit of our constitutional and democratic principles.

This course will explore the normative-positive dimension from both a theoretical and evidence-based approach. We will begin with the foundations of normativism and positivism, examine how the law grapples with evidence, and explore the mechanisms by which our society encourages (or discourages) compliance with both. We then look at the socioeconomic factors that influence how we perceive normativism and positivism, how society wrestles with arguably discriminatory policies, and conclude with how recent technological developments may affect how society, and law, evolves.

The purpose of this seminar is twofold: the first is to provide a foundation for those interested in academic research; and two, for class members to write their own original academic research project, with the goal of publication in an academic journal. Your paper can be positive or normative in its focus, or both.

Justice? Equality? Efficiency? Professor Essert and Professor Niblett disagree about private law.

They disagree about what private law is.

They disagree about what purpose private law serves.

They disagree about what private law should be.

They disagree about what private law should do.

And they disagree about how these other disagreements are related.

Legal scholars take different theoretical approaches to the cases and legal doctrines that students learn in property law, contract law, and tort law. They have different views about the importance of different legal institutions that administer private law.

In this course, students will revisit material from their first-year courses from different theoretical, philosophical, and practical perspectives. Students will critically examine these different approaches to private law, exploring how these approaches have different normative implications.

Alternatively, students may, after submitting a short (one page) proposal, be permitted to take this course for 3 graded credits. For more information, see LAW5085H Perspectives on Private Law—Extended.

Justice? Equality? Efficiency? Professor Essert and Professor Niblett disagree about private law.

They disagree about what private law is.

They disagree about what purpose private law serves.

They disagree about what private law should be.

They disagree about what private law should do.

And they disagree about how these other disagreements are related.

Legal scholars take different theoretical approaches to the cases and legal doctrines that students learn in property law, contract law, and tort law. They have different views about the importance of different legal institutions that administer private law.

In this course, students will revisit material from their first-year courses from different theoretical, philosophical, and practical perspectives. Students will critically examine these different approaches to private law, exploring how these approaches have different normative implications.

This course critically examines work law and its role in securing social equality. To what extent is the employment relation objectionably hierarchical? What are the limits of employment discrimination law in remedying discrimination, gender discrimination, and other kinds of discrimination at work? How, if at all, does (or should) labour law enable workers to "deal on an equal basis" with employers?

Students will engage with such questions through discussion of selected work law jurisprudence as well as philosophical writing on work and equality, including, but not limited to, liberal egalitarian philosophy, critical race theory, Marxist theory, and feminist theory. Students should come away from the course with a working understanding of traditional and current controversies in work law and an informed view of the relationship between work law and social equality.