This thesis argues that globalization is creating increased need and opportunities for Indigenous rights advocacy/participation within emerging institutions of global governance and analyzes the possibilities and limitations of Indigenous advocacy at the WTO, drawing on the experiences of First Nations from the Interior of British Columbia. It begins by examining how governance is shifting in the context of globalization, pointing to the emergence of an integrated global economy, the rise of supranational regulatory regimes such as the WTO, and the increased power and significance of non-state actors.within the global political-legal arena. It then analyzes how globalization is affecting Indigenous peoples and moreover, how Indigenous peoples have been responding to this through transnational advocacy efforts. The author argues that given the shifting nature of governance, and the growing significance of intergovernmental organizations (i.e. the WTO), it is prudent for Indigenous rights advocates to expand the parameters of their advocacy - to seek out non-traditional spaces at both local and global levels to assert Indigenous voices where they have traditionally been rendered absent. Adopting Boaventura de Sousa Santos' subaltern cosmopolitan legality perspective, the author then turns to examine how First Nations from the Interior of BC have used a multiplicity of legal techniques and strategies across a "plural legal landscape" to simultaneously assert their Indigenous rights over their forest resources and to challenge the dominant neoliberaI conception of economy. The author examines the political and legal mobilization of BC Interior First Nations from local acts of resistance against BC government forest policies to global acts of resistance vis a vis the submission of amicus curiae briefs to the WTO in the Canada-United States Softwood Lumber Dispute. In analyzing this struggle the author illustrates how globalization has created the need and opportunity for BC First Nations to locate new directions of advocacy, and how they have reinvented law to fit their objectives and enable their access to traditionally "closed" political-legal arenas. Upon conducting an examination of the BC Interior First Nations' experiences, the author then critically evaluates the possibilities and limitations of Indigenous advocacy at the WTO. The author finds that while amicus curiae submissions provide some possibility to strengthen Indigenous rights by raising awareness about the linkages between international trade and Indigenous rights within the international trade arena, there are significant limitations that must be considered in pursuing such advocacy. The author concludes with recommendations concerning how Indigenous rights advocacy may be approached in the context of shifting governance relations.

This thesis explores the inclusion of race as a factor for consideration in the best interest of the child test for custody and access determinations through the lens of Critical Race Theory and Critical Race Feminism. This thesis contributes to the ongoing feminist discussions and debates on the benefits and risks of including race in the best interest of the child test since the death of Bill C-22 An Act to Amend the Divorce Act. Through a review of family law reform and Van de Perre v. Edwards, the leading case to articulate that race is a relevant factor, I will highlight how race has come to be interpreted. Interviews were conducted with women advocates and lawyers who primarily advocated for racialized women and children in custody and access determinations. Their lived experiences of the challenges and struggles that racialized women experience in family law, particularly, the best interest of the child test, assist in providing a counter-story to White mainstream family law discourse.

Several ways of understanding aboriginal rights surfaced in the wake of section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, which recognizes and affirms aboriginal and treaty rights. During my Masters’ studies, I journeyed these ways, propelled by a troubling dream that came to me while I was in law school. The dream prompted me to reconsider rights and to choose my words with caution and with care. And yet when I thought of what my dream might be trying to tell me, I was afraid. I was afraid to question rights, especially aboriginal rights. There seemed to be so much of me tied up in the cause and construction of aboriginal rights. All through law school I wanted there to be an answer I could find and defend. I wanted there to be a right way to think about aboriginal rights, something that would guarantee me a protected space to be. I wanted to continue pursuing that protection. And yet, there was my dream. Among the Anishinabe, dreams are considered gifts, for they lead us toward our greatest laws and teachings. Though I was loath to question aboriginal rights, I was not willing to question my dream. So I readied myself, preparing to put aboriginal rights into question. To my thesis, I brought all the learning I had done in and outside of law school. I also brought a question to guide me. To give me courage, I carried my faith in who I am, as Anishinabe. Knowing for all that I am Dawnis Kennedy, I am also Minawaanigogiizhigok, I set out to see what I would see. The question that led me through understandings of section 35 is this: do recent understandings of aboriginal rights within Canadian law enable Canadian courts to transform adverse relations with indigenous legal orders? The answer I found is, not yet. The interpretations of aboriginal rights I encountered have effected considerable change within Canadian law. However, my journey shows more is needed before the aboriginal rights framework can support respectful engagements with indigenous law. Indeed, without fundamental reorientation, I believe aboriginal rights jurisprudence will further entrench, rather than transform, Canadian law’s adverse relations with indigenous peoples. I would ask judges, lawyers, legislators, and all who shape Canadian law, to break away from attempts to reconcile indigenous and Canadian law within Canadian legal orders and reorient themselves towards fostering respect between indigenous and Canadian legal orders. In writing my thesis, I found cause for my concern with rights. And yet, this is not all that I found. Also, I found myself able to engage the world beyond the protective limits aboriginal rights provide. I found the ability to trust in another form of law, Anishinabe inaakonigewin, to understand my relations and actions in the world. This trust helped me to find the will to move beyond critiquing systems, toward engaging people.

This thesis analyzes the relationship between the legal traditions of indigenous peoples and the Canadian State. I posit that the current relationship is aptly characterized as imperial. The imperial dynamics of this relationship perpetuate imbalances of power between the two traditions. This situation of power imbalance produces two effects that are of concern here. First, it enframes the development of indigenous legal traditions within the liberal state, domesticating indigenous norms to accord with liberal norms. Second, it disencumbers indigenous peoples ancestral territories from indigenous authority that would inhibit Canadian and global market penetration. I rely on theoretical literature in the fields of legal pluralism and postcolonialism to develop this argument. A deep conception of legal pluralism allows us, as researchers, to think of state law as developed by a single legal tradition that co-exists with indigenous legal traditions. Postcolonial theory aids us in analyzing the particular manner in which power works in situations of colonialism and imperialism to privilege certain legal orders over others. I suggest that indigenous life is not fully enclosed by imperialism, and that as indigenous peoples we should engage those non-imperial sites and practices deeply to thicken our capacity to live freely. I suggest indigenous practices of totemism represent one such site.

The basic research question this thesis addresses is how the secondary status of Bangladeshi women is reinforced through household labour. It is argued that gender relations and housework shape each other. To develop this, it examines the degree of participation of women in different areas of housework and family decisions. The thesis further explores whether the autonomy of women coming from the traditional Bangladeshi family set-up has increased as a result of their immigration to Canada and their exposure to Canadian family values. This is done by a comparison of the family experiences of Canadian and Bangladeshi women. Finally, it is suggested that age, position in the family and length of immigration are the indices of the autonomy of Bangladeshi women in Canada.

No abstract available.

This research aimed to undertake an investigation into the question of whether after divorce, in the matrilineal customary law marriage in Malawi, women's rights are severely violated. The study showed causes of divorce, how proceedings are done, how issues of property are handled, how the issue of custody of children and maintenance are also handled. All this was weighed against the constitutional provisions and international law.

The thesis focused on how the advent of children's rights, in particular the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), has impacted on the subject of juvenile justice and embarked on a practical examination of law reform in this regard in an African context. The focus was placed on a number of African countries that have embarked on or completed child law reform in the aftermath of ratification of the CRC. The case studies in this thesis were Ghana (1998-2003), Kenya (1993-2001), Namibia (1994 to date), Lesotho (2003 to date), South Africa (1997 to date) and Uganda (1992-1996).

<p>This thesis discussed the subjects of bioprospecting and the protection of traditional knowledge. At first the international approach to the subjects was elaborately discussed. The focus was on the respective provisions of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the related Bonn Guidelines, stressing the matter of access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their utilization. Enclosed in this discussion was the examination of different legislatory approaches to tackle the subject with an emphasis on national intellectual property rights laws and the role and potential merit of national registers of and databases for specific traditional knowledge. The way national legislators have implemented the concerned obligations of the convention, and their peculiarities as for example the restriction of scope of law to indigenous biological resources, was exemplified with the respective Bolivian, South African as well as Indian laws.</p>

<p>It is within the context of the persistent feminisation of the HIV and AIDS pandemic that this study, based on the normative provisions of the African Women's Protocol, focused on gender, sex and sexuality in the context of HIV and AIDS. The regime of the African Women's Protocol embodies a framework that can be utilised to combat HIV/AIDS amongst women in Africa by addressing some of the most important issues that need to be tackled if women are to live through this epidemic.</p>