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The Peter A. Allard School of Law's innovative researchers, inspiring teachers, and outstanding graduates have established our national reputation and global reach. The Faculty is committed to preparing our students to become exceptional global citizens, to conducting leading-edge research that serves our community nationally and internationally, and to promoting the values of a just, civil and sustainable society.
The Allard School of Law is proud to foster a research environment that pulls faculty, students, and visitors into collaborative and challenging research projects. Our outstanding graduate programs offer students the opportunity to study law from within law’s wider social, economic, and political context, and select courses from a comprehensive and progressive curriculum that emphasizes foundational knowledge, scholarly innovation, ethics, and the development of professional skills.
Legal research that employs the perspectives of different disciplines, contexts, and methodologies makes the Allard School of Law an exciting and rewarding research centre. And, as the stories on the Allard School of Law research portal show, research done here changes peoples’ lives.
The Allard School of Law's more than 10,000 alumni include:
Allard Hall, home of the Allard School of Law, creates a welcoming and inspiring learning, research and meeting place for students, faculty, staff and the wider legal community.
Opened in 2011, the $56-million four-storey, 141,000 square-foot building and $56-million facility includes flexible, modern teaching spaces, a replica courtroom, and dedicated spaces for the faculty’s nearly 650 students, 45 full-time faculty, plus alumni and guests. Classroom video displays and webcasting technology will connect UBC students with law schools and communities globally. A three-storey multipurpose forum with floor-to-ceiling windows converts from a social area to an auditorium for special events and lectures. The new state-of-the-art UBC Law Library serves as an academic hub for students and the legal community.
With powerful learning and sustainability features, Allard Hall – named after donor and alumnus Peter A. Allard – provides a space to advance legal research and education in Canada, expand the Faculty’s presence in the community, and honour its ties to BC First Nations.
The Allard School of Law is home to a dynamic, accomplished, and diverse group of faculty who make innovative and influential contributions to understanding the underpinning of the law, cutting edge developments in legal practice, the development of policy, and the progress of civil society at both national and international levels. The Faculty’s research is regularly cited by scholars, courts, and policymakers across the country and around the world.
The Allard School of Law has led Canada in curricular and research innovation with important programs focusing on areas including social justice, business law, environmental law, sustainability and Asian legal studies. Our faculty members carry out their research and teaching objectives with a commitment to pursuing social justice.
Key areas of faculty research include international law, Indigenous legal studies, environmental law and sustainability, migration, human trafficking, affordable housing, and criminal law and policy. Allard Hall is home to Centres of business law, environmental law and natural resources, Asian legal studies, and feminist legal studies.
Allard Hall is also home to affiliated law reform organizations: British Columbia Law Institute, which includes the Canadian Center for Elder Law Studies, and the UN-affiliated International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy.
This is an incomplete sample of recent publications in chronological order by UBC faculty members with a primary appointment in the Peter A. Allard School of Law.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Dr. Cochran explored the meaning and consequences of the term "common sense" when it is invoked in legal judgments. Her study focussed on issues of poverty and inequality. She showed that, while the concept of "common sense" can be conservative and majoritarian, it also has aspects that promote egalitarianism and political reflection in legal judgment. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Labman looked at the development and operation of Canada's voluntary refugee re-settlement program. She analyzed the intersection of rights, responsibility and obligation in the absence of a legal scheme for resettlement. Her research demonstrates the pervasive influence of law and how this affects refugee access to protection. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Diab explored debates about security after September 11. His findings highlight a gap between arguments in favour of extraordinary measures and evidence about the nature of outstanding threats. He concluded that while serious risks remain, a better understanding of those risks will help us to preserve core rights in times of fear. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2013 | Dr. Parmar examined a dispute over water between indigenous peoples in India and CocaCola, using ethnographic, legal and historical research. This study shows that meaningful resolution of such disputes requires recognition of the historical and social contexts that are often overlooked in legal analysis and popular reporting of such disputes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Nwapi examined the feasibility of bringing a criminal or civil suit in Canada, against Canadian companies, for wrongs allegedly committed overseas. He focused on the bases that Canadian courts use for exercising jurisdiction over conduct outside of this country. He found that Canada holds prospects for success in such litigation. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Russo studied the unionization of migrant workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. The unionization of farm workers in Canada is relatively recent phenomenon. Dr. Russo argues that the unique position of these workers in Canada and the framework of the program itself hampers the effectiveness of unionization. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Au developed a theory to explain the development of Chinese socialist institutions from 1978 to 2011, based on case studies of Chinese legal reforms. He argues that change arose from the interplay between traditional socialist ideas and local practicalities. The research contributes to our understanding of past reforms and future policy considerations in China. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Ferguson investigated the inconsistency between the claims that international human trafficking is wide spread in Canada and the small number of prosecutions that have taken place following a decade of anti-human trafficking enforcement. His research expands our collective knowledge and understanding of international human trafficking in Canada | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2012 | Dr. Dempsey studied evolving corporate governance regulation and standards of business conduct in multiple regimes. Her research contributes to corporate governance scholarship providing insight into ethical and legal foundations of responsible conduct and informed discourse among market, government and public stakeholders to address both financial and ethical dimensions of business. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2011 | Dr. Kangave studied communities displaced by infrastructure projects such as large dams. Focusing on Uganda 's Bujagali Hydroelectric Project, she investigated the impact of resettlement through legal, economic and humanitarian lenses. She concluded that to adequately protect displaced communities, multiple layers of legal protection are essential. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |