This thesis analyzes the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB)’s treatment of culture in recent family sponsorship decisions. Drawing upon theories of cultural difference, identity construction, and Critical Race Theory, it examines IRB decision-makers’ assessments of cultural factors and their influence on the evaluation of parties’ credibility. This thesis argues that appellants and applicants before the Immigration Appeal Division often had to demonstrate that their family class relationships were “performed” in accordance with the norms of their culture. Many IRB Members relied on essentialist conceptions of culture, and thus generated problematic images of both cultural minorities and Canadian society. Further, the identity of parties was often constructed in terms of defined categories such as ethnic background, religion, marital status, age, and disability. In conclusion, this thesis offers reflections on how issues of cultural identity can be more fairly and sensitively addressed by administrative tribunals such as the IRB.

Using the case study of 21st century Piracy as it affects the small islands archipelagic state of the Seychelles, this paper sets the stage for a broader discussion on the sovereignty of small island states in international law. Sovereignty can be viewed through different lenses; sovereignty denied considers the many challenges faced by small island states and their claim to the traditional concept of sovereignty, as promoted during the decolonisation era and projected by the right of self determination. On the other hand sovereignty can also be yielded by small island states, where the jurisdiction of the state becomes a resource. This is demonstrated through the degree of international assistance afforded to the Seychelles in dealing with pirates and more generally, through the development of offshore companies in small island states. Consequently, this paper suggests that international law is both the problem and solution to the sovereignty of small island states.

This paper examines the Attorney General’s obligation, in Canada and New Zealand, to report on inconsistencies in proposed legislation with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Although the obligations are similar, the Canadian and New Zealand Attorneys General have developed very different reporting cultures. The Canadian Attorney General has never issued a report; the New Zealand Attorney General has issued many. This paper’s thesis is that the different reporting cultures are attributable to the different constitutional structure in each jurisdiction and different understandings of the independence of the Attorney General. Under this analysis, the usefulness of comparative analysis between the two jurisdictions is limited: constitutional differences cannot be ignored. The paper evaluates proposed changes to the reporting obligation in each jurisdiction in light of this analysis.

For many years, workers petitioned the Supreme Court of Canada to intervene in labour relations to protect their collective bargaining rights. Finally, the Court answered the call, but the drastic changes made were not what workers expected. This thesis outlines the effect that the Court’s decision to intervene in labour relations had on the existing collective bargaining model. In making this determination, a historical analysis was done of the Court’s attitude towards using section 2(d) Freedom to Associate to protect collective bargaining, followed by a comparative analysis with United States jurisprudence to explain the effect of the Canadian decisions on the statutory provisions. The analysis revealed that the decisions had significantly weakened protections for workers’ rights, and provided the basis to conclude that the Supreme Court of Canada had used the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to deradicalize the existing collective bargaining model.

Family is the foundation society. Women are the backbone of families even in fundamental patriarchal society like Malaysia. However, Malaysia’s system of religious accommodation results in different rights available to individuals based on the states diverse religious affiliation. Contemporary family issues are inadequately addressed in current Malaysian Family Law: one for the Muslims and one for the non-Muslims. Most cases highlighted inconsistencies when conversion to Islam affected the rights of women during breakdown of marriage. In permitting a path to accommodate diversity, and to reach a new engagement between the civil and the Shariah courts, it is necessary to appreciate Malaysia’s history, sentiment, constraints and strengths. This paper proposes that not only Malaysia has adequate strengths to provide a strong platform to address the conflict, but possesses the mechanisms to create a dynamic set of joint governance of Family Laws to enhance religious accommodation.

Universities have traditionally stood as bastions of academic freedom and forums for open discourse and free expression. In recent years, however, this role has been questioned in instances where university administrators have, either directly or complicity, denied students the opportunity to express certain viewpoints they deem “controversial”. This research paper explores whether a university, or its delegates, should be allowed to deny students access to campus facilities and resources solely on the basis of ideological viewpoint. The relevance of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, statutory human rights provisions, and common law doctrines to the student-university relationship are explored in turn. It is argued that, notwithstanding the fact that universities may be “private” actors to whom the Charter does not directly apply, they are institutions invested with a public interest, and as such ought to be subject to special duties of non-discrimination.

In recent decades, the truth commission has become a mechanism used by states to address historical injustices. However, truth commissions are rarely used in established democracies, where the commission of inquiry model is favoured. I argue that established democracies may be more amenable to addressing historical injustices that continue to divide their populations if they see the truth commission mechanism not as a unique mechanism particular to the transitional justice setting, but as a specialized form of a familiar mechanism, the commission of inquiry. In this framework, truth commissions are distinguished from other commissions of inquiry by their symbolic acknowledgement of historical injustices, and their explicit “social function” to educate the public about those injustices in order to prevent their recurrence. Given that Canada has established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) on the Indian Residential Schools legacy, I consider the TRC’s mandate, structure and ability to fulfill its social function, particularly the daunting challenge of engaging the non-indigenous public in its work. I also provide a legal history of a landmark Canadian public inquiry, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, run by Tom Berger. As his Inquiry demonstrated, with visionary leadership and an effective process, a public inquiry can be a pedagogical tool that promotes social accountability for historical injustices. Conceiving of the truth commission as a form of public inquiry provides a way to consider the transitional justice literature on truth commissions internationally along with the experiences of domestic commissions of inquiry to assemble strategies that may assist the current TRC in its journey.

La tradition juridique iroquoise, ou de la Confédération iroquoise - autrement connue sous l‟appellation Haudenosaunee ou Gens du Longhouse - est non seulement ancienne, mais aussi organique et viable. Les rappels de son existence et de son contenu nous entourent et nous pénètrent. Son application, toutefois, exige notre volonté et notre participation, ainsi que celles des communautés autochtones dont les ancêtres l‟ont développée il y a plusieurs siècles. Ceci représente un défi constant pour la communauté mohawk de Kahnawake où la marche du temps a mené, malgré la présence notable et indépendante des Mohawks avant et pendant les premiers siècles d‟interaction avec les Européens, à une intégration juridique de la mentalité coloniale. L‟on pourrait même douter de l‟existence de leur ordre juridique, la Kaianerekowa. La réalité néanmoins est toute autre et cet ordre est complet, sophistiqué et applicable; il s‟ouvre ainsi, nécessairement, à la possibilité de critique et d‟amélioration progressive. La médiation illustre bien ces dynamiques, parce qu‟elle en fait partie depuis un temps immémorial. Aujourd‟hui, Kahnawake cherche à développer son identité juridique ainsi que ses relations avec le monde extérieur. La Kaianerekowa représente une alternative concrète viable pour les communautés locales ou globales. La médiation demeure une application pratique et efficace de cet ordre juridique pour cette communauté, comme pour d‟autres, chacune avec des adaptations particulières. Nous argumenterons pour la reconnaissance pleine et entière de la Kaianerekowa comme ordre juridique et de la médiation comme forme juridique potentiellement dominante à Kahnawake. / The Iroquois Legal Tradition, or that of the Iroquois Confederation otherwise known as the Haudenosaunee or the People of the Longhouse, is not only ancient but also organic and currently viable. The reminders of its existence and of its content surround us and traverse us. Its application, however, requires our will and our participation as well as that of Indigenous communities of which the ancestors themselves developed it many centuries ago. This presents a constant challenge for the Mohawk community of Kahnawake where the march of time led, despite the notable independent Mohawk presence before and during the first centuries of interaction with the Europeans, to a legal integration of the colonial mentality. This could even lead one to doubt of the existence of their legal order, the Kaianerekowa. Reality, however, is otherwise and this order is complete, sophisticated and applicable; it is thus open necessarily to the possibility of critique and progressive improvement. The mediation exemplifies these dynamics, because it has been a part of them since before one can say. Today, Kahnawake seeks to develop its legal identity as well as its relations with the outside world. The Kaianerekowa presents itself as a concrete and viable alternative for local and global communities. The mediation remains a practical and efficient application of this legal order for this community, as for others and each with its own particular adaptation. We will argue for the full and entire recognition of the Kaianerekowa as a legal order and of mediation as a legal form potentially dominant in Kahnawake.

La présente étude examine les causes de déchéance du droit à limitation de responsabilité du transporteur maritime de marchandises. En règle générale, les plafonds d’indemnisation fixés par les conventions internationales écartent la réparation intégrale du préjudice causé par le transporteur maritime de marchandises. Cependant, il est également prévu un certain nombre de causes de déchéance de ce droit à limitation, pour lesquelles les conditions d’application diffèrent d’une convention internationale à l’autre (Règles de La Haye, Règles de La Haye-Visby, Règles de Hambourg et Règles de Rotterdam). Parallèlement, les tribunaux nationaux, par le recours à des notions propres de leurs systèmes juridiques, modifient l’étendue des causes de déchéance de ce droit. En somme, la déchéance du droit à limitation de responsabilité variera selon la convention internationale appliquée et selon la juridiction compétente. Ce qui, en définitive, porte atteinte à la structuration rationnelle du régime de responsabilité du transporteur maritime dans sa globalité et à l’objectif d’uniformisation poursuivi jusqu’ici. / This study examines the institutions capable to deprive the sea carriers from the benefit of limitation of liability. In general, the package limitation provisions settled by international maritime conventions reject the full compensation of damages caused by the shipowning companies. However, this rule can be mitigated. Some specific conducts can bar the carrier from the benefit of limitation of liability. The conventions on international transport of goods (the Hague Rules, the Hague-Visby Rules, the Hamburg Rules and the Rotterdam Rules) have set out differently the conditions required to deprive the carrier of the right to limit responsibility. Concurrently, national courts, through the use of specific concepts, have modified the scope of the right of such limitation. In sum, the conducts barring limitation of liability will vary according to the International Convention applied and according to the relevant competent court. This, ultimately, undermines the rational organization of the maritime liability system and adversely affects the objective of uniformity in this matter.

Le mémoire vise à déterminer quelle contribution la justice internationale peut apporter à la résolution des conflits et au maintien de la paix et plus précisément si les pouvoirs octroyés au Procureur de la Cour pénale internationale, dans le cadre du Statut de Rome, lui donnent la capacité d’influencer les conflits en cours. Le premier chapitre décrit l’historique des événements ayant mené à l’adoption du Statut de Rome en 1998 et permet d’expliquer l’évolution de la notion d’une justice post-conflictuelle à une justice pouvant favoriser la paix. Le débat théorique paix-justice est ensuite analysé afin de démontrer que le Procureur de la Cour pénale internationale peut exercer une certaine influence sur les conflits lorsqu’il possède un pouvoir discrétionnaire important. Le second chapitre examine les prérogatives octroyées au Procureur dans le cadre du statut de Rome et comment elles s’appliquent durant les différentes étapes de procédure menant à la délivrance d’un mandat d’arrêt. Il est démontré que le pouvoir discrétionnaire du Procureur est limité par le régime de complémentarité et par des enjeux de coopération avec les États Parties. Par conséquent, cela nuit à sa capacité d’influencer la résolution des conflits. Le troisième chapitre analyse deux situations en cours à la Cour pénale internationale, soit celle de l’Ouganda et celle du Darfour, afin de vérifier si le Procureur a réellement un impact sur les conflits en cours. Il est avancé que dans le cadre actuel du Statut de Rome, le Procureur est dépendant de la coopération des États Parties pour influencer la résolution des conflits. / The thesis aims to determine how international justice can contribute to peace-building and ending conflicts and more specifically whether the powers given to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, in the Rome Statute, enable him to take action on ongoing conflicts. The first chapter describes the events that led to the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998 and explains the evolution from a post-conflict justice to a justice for peace. The Peace and Justice debate is further analysed as to demonstrate that the International Criminal Court Prosecutor may have an impact on ongoing conflicts if granted with prosecutorial discretion. The second chapter looks into prosecutorial discretion in the Rome Statute and how it is implemented during the main steps of the process leading to an arrest warrant. It is demonstrated that prosecutorial discretion is limited by complementarity and cooperation issues between State Parties. Therefore it restricts the Prosecutor’s ability to ending conflicts. The third chapter analyses two ongoing situations at the International Criminal Court that is Uganda and Darfur, as to verify if the Prosecutor can have an effect on ongoing conflicts. It is concluded that in the current Rome Statute, the Prosecutor is dependent on State Parties cooperation to influencing conflict resolution.