Legal Philosophy Research Group
Legal philosophy asks basic questions about the nature of law. Among other things, it examines the relationship between law and morality; the grounds of legal authority; the source and content of legal obligations; and the normative structure of legal doctrine in different domains of law.
Western Law’s faculty has substantial expertise in numerous areas of legal philosophy, covering many aspects of analytic jurisprudence, private law theory, public law theory, and the theory of international law. Established in 2021 the Legal Philosophy Research Group is dedicated to encouraging collaboration among our colleagues through reading groups and workshops, connecting our faculty and our colleagues to leading legal philosophers from around the world through talks, workshops, and conferences, and supporting JD and graduate students who have interests in this area through public events, specialized courses, curricular development, and mentoring.
Members
- Prof. Andrew Botterell — private law theory, criminal law theory
- Prof. Dennis Klimchuk — private law theory, equity, history of political philosophy
- Prof. Joanna Langille — private international law, international trade law, private law, legal theory
- Prof. Ryan Liss — criminal law theory, International criminal law theory
- Prof. Margaret Martin — jurisprudence, constitutional law, constitutional law theory, legal positivism
- Prof. Jason Neyers — private law theory, contract law, tort law
- Prof. Manish Oza — legal theory, contract law, property law
- Prof. Zoe Sinel — private law theory, restitution, remedies
- Prof. Andy Yu — jurisprudence, constitutional law, Administrative law, property law
News and Events
Prof. Mark Walters
On March 26, 2026, Professor Ashwini Vasanthakumar, Associate Professor and Queen’s National Scholar in Legal and Political Philosophy at Queen’s Law, gave the Legal Philosophy Research Group's Annual Public Lecture. The lecture was entitled “Grateful Houseguests: Gratitude, Belonging, and the Politics of Immigration”.
On November 14, 2023, Professor Kimberley Brownlee, Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political & Social Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, UBC, gave the Legal Philosophy Research Group’s Annual Public Lecture. Professor Brownlee spoke on the topic ‘Civil Disobedience and the Climate Necessity Defence (in Canada).'
On Monday, November 7, 2022, Western Law’s Legal Philosophy Research Group held its Inaugural Annual Public Lecture. The Lecture was given by the Dean of Queen’s Law, Professor Mark Walters, who is a leading expert in public law. The Lecture was on the topic, “Reconciling Sovereignty and Legality in Canada: Is A.V. Dicey Relevant Anymore?”
Past Speakers
2025-2026
- Hillary Nye (Alberta), “‘It’s Not Right, But it’s Okay’: Role Morality and Judicial Decision-Making” (Oct 2025)
- Anthony Sangiuliano (Osgoode), “Compounding Injustice Through Algorithmic Discrimination” (Nov 2025)
- Emily Kidd White (Osgoode), “The Philosophy of History in Judicial Interpretations of Charter Rights” (Mar 2026)
2024-2025
- Evan Fox-Decent (McGill), “The Moral Authority of Rulings” (Oct 2024)
- Nina Varsava (Wisconsin-Madison), “Egregiously Erroneous Precedents” (Nov 2024)
- Martin David Kelly (Edinburgh), “From Instruction to Action: Rethinking Instruction-Governed Decision-Making” (Feb 2025)
- Vincent Chiao (University of Toronto), “Cooperation and the Retributive Sentiments” (Mar 2025)
- Amin Ebrahimi Afrouzi (UCLA), “Semantic Canons: their Contributions to Meaning and Interpretation” (Mar 2025)
Additional talks, co-hosted with the Legislative Intent and Ordinary Meaning project
2025-2026
- Ross Pey (Western), “Issues with Bilingual Legislation and Potential Solutions for Bilingual Welsh Legislation” (Oct 2025)
- Luciana Moro (Deakin), “Principles of Statutory Interpretation and Parliament’s Intentions: Re-Examining An Overlooked Relationship” (Nov 2025)
- Robert Mullins (Queensland), “Are Sex and Gender Terms Open Textured?” (Feb 2026)
2024-2025
- Elizabeth Allyn Smith (UQAM), “From Forensic Linguistics to AI: the Consequences of Different Understandings of ‘Ground Truth’ for the Courts” (Nov 2024)
- Jacques Lamarche (Western), “A Grammar that is Logic and Formal, but is not Formal Semantics nor Generative Grammar” (Jan 2025)
- Kevin Tobia (Georgetown), “Reading Law with Linguistics: The Statutory Interpretation of Artifact Nouns” (Feb 2025)
- Cameron Domenico Kirk-Giannini (Rutgers), “Commissioned Voices: Rethinking Authorship in Algorithmic Speech” (Mar 2025)
Relevant Recent Publications
Joanna Langille
“Theorizing Private Law Beyond the State” (2026) Law and Philosophy (forthcoming)
“The Subjects of Tort Law” (2025) 38:2 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 331
“The Constitutive Demands of Corrective Justice” (2025) 45:3 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 821
“Substance and Procedure,” in Caterina Benini, Felix Berner, and Johannes Ungerer, eds, Characterisation in the Conflict of Laws (Hart 2026)
Ryan Liss
Human Rights, Between Peace and Dignity, 46 MICHIGAN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (forthcoming)
The Local, the Universal, and the Shape of Criminal Responsibility, in PALGRAVE HANDBOOK ON THE PHILOSOPHY OF CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY (Raff Donelson & Ken Levy eds., forthcoming)
Jason Neyers
JW Neyers, A Botterell & M Ppasiou, “Justice Brown’s Contributions to Negligence: No (Proximity) Soup for You!” (2026) 10 SCLR (3d) 57-93 (36 pp).
C Essert, JW Neyers & EJ Weinrib, Tort Law: Cases and Materials, 6th Edition (Emond Montgomery, 2025). 753 pages.
Manish Oza
“Justiciability in Private Law: Religion and Politics” (forthcoming) Osgoode Hall Law Journal
“Personification in Private Law”, forthcoming in Legal Personhood in Private Law (Cambridge University Press)
“Voluntary Associations and the Rule of Law” (2026) McGill Law Journal
“Can We Legally Revise the Highest Legal Rule?” (2025) Legal Theory
“Eric Claeys, Natural Property Rights” [Book Review] (2026) Law and Philosophy
“Gabriele Badano & Alasia Nuti, Politicizing Political Liberalism” [Book Review] (2025) Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
Andy Yu
“Constitutional Statutes are ‘Always Speaking’” (forthcoming) Osgoode Hall Law Journal
“A Unified Approach to Constitutional and Statutory Interpretation” (forthcoming) Canadian Bar Review
“Popular Recognition and the Continuity of Legal Systems” (forthcoming) Jurisprudence
