Courses
Western Law offers a rich set of public law courses that span the breadth and depth of issues that perennially preoccupy and puzzle public law jurists. These courses include:
- Aboriginal Law
- Access to Justice
- Administrative Law
- Advanced Constitutional Law: Charter of Rights
- Advanced Constitutional Law: Federalism
- Advanced Legal Ethics and Professionalism
- Advanced Public Law
- Canadian Human Rights
- Capstone: Government and Public Administration
- Comparative Constitutional Law
- Constitutional Law
- Constitutional Theory Seminar
- Criminal Law
- Criminal Law Advocacy
- Criminal Procedure
- Environmental Law
- Healthcare Law and Policy
- Immigration and Refugee Law
- Intellectual Property
- International and Comparative Labour Law
- International Environmental Law
- Justice, Power, and Rule of Law Seminar
- Labour Law
- Law and Gender
- Law and Sport
- Municipal Law
- Planning Law
- Public International Law
- Securities Regulation
- Sex Discrimination and the Law
- Statutory Interpretation
- Why Punish? Questions of Criminal Theory
Core course offerings also include a range of advocacy and dispute resolution courses related to matters of public law, including the Gale Cup, the Jessup Moot, the Kawaskimhon Talking Circle, the Labour Arbitration Competition, the Laskin Moot, and the Wilson Moot.
In addition, Western Law’s unique intensive course program offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in specialized fields without distraction. Intensive course offerings vary annually, providing access to preeminent experts, innovative pedagogy, and diverse perspectives. In recent years, intensive courses dealing with contemporary questions of public law have included:
- Law and the Indigenous World in Canada
- Litigating Life, Liberty, and Security of the Person
- Police Accountability and the Law
- History and Theory of International Criminal Jurisdiction
- Theory and Practice of Legal Reasoning
- Comparative Constitutional Law and Human Rights
- Sustainability and Natural Resources Law
- The Canadian Charter in Comparative Perspective
- Judges as Government? Judicial Review in Final Courts of Appeal
- Comparative Constitutional Law
Western Law also offers a curricular stream in Government and Public Administration for JD students. One of several curricular streams, it culminates in an optional “capstone” course in the spring of third year, which is intended to bring together the theoretical, practical and interdisciplinary components of public law that JD students encounter in their other courses. In 2019, the “capstone” was co-taught by Professor Berger and Professor Wright, and focused on two case studies involving recent controversies – interprovincial pipelines and the standard of review in administrative law. The faculty advisor for the Government and Public Administration curricular stream is Professor Wade Wright.
