Welcome to the Graduate Program in Law and Society

UVic is widely regarded as one of Canada’s finest law schools.  It has internationally recognized faculty members, a collegial atmosphere, a stimulating intellectual environment, and a strong commitment to social justice.  The Faculty of Law is a pluralistic academic environment that encourages a variety of approaches to legal scholarship (including, but not limited to, feminist, historical, comparative, analytical jurisprudence, and critical legal theory).

The LLM and PhD programs provide an opportunity for advanced research at the intersection of Law and Society.  Graduate programs at UVic are challenging, collaborative, and interdisciplinary.  Students work closely with each other and with leading scholars in Law, Anthropology, Political Science, Sociology, Philosophy, and other fields.  Students take courses in Legal Theory and Research Methodology, as well as in other faculties.  Explore the links on the right side of this page to find out more.

We accept students across a wide range of subject areas and emphasize a law and society approach.  Our program welcomes engagement with Canadian, international, and comparative dimensions of the study of law, for example with respect to the Asia-Pacific region.  Our particular areas of strength  are:

• Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Rights
• Constitutional Law
• Environmental Law and Policy
• Legal History
• Legal Theory, especially Feminist and Critical Legal Theory
• Market Regulation (for example, Employment and Labour Law, International Private and Public Law, and Commercial Law)

Although research and teaching obligations of individual faculty make it impossible for us to guarantee supervision in these and any other areas in a given year, we do our best to match each student with a faculty supervisor that has depth in the student’s chosen field.    

Our students become accomplished researchers, assuming a role as producers, not merely consumers, of legal knowledge. They present their work to each other and to the wider academic community at conferences. Meet some of them on our Contact a Graduate page.

What's New

Three Ph.D. Candidates Submit Their Final Dissertations

The end of April was a landmark week for the UVic Law Graduate program as three Ph.D. candidates submitted their final dissertations. We're incredibly proud of the important work of all three new Ph.D.s.

Angela Cameron Angela worked with Professors Rebecca Johnson, Hester Lessard, and Susan Boyd (SPP) on the dissertation Restoring Women: Community and Legal Responses to Violence Against Women in Opposite Sex Intimate Relationships (currently being withheld for future publication). Angela is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law (Common Law Section).
Jacinta Ruru Jacinta worked with Professors John Borrows, Philip Dearden (GEOG) and Nancy Turner (ES) on the dissertation Settling Indigenous Place: Reconciling Legal Fictions in Governing Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand’s National Parks. Jacinta is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Otago Faculty of Law.
Areli Valencia Areli worked with Professors Hester Lessard, Cecilia Benoit (SOCI), and Laura Parisi (WS) on the dissertation Human Rights Trade-Offs in a Context of Systemic Unfreedom: Work vs. Health in the Case of the Smelter Town of La Oroya, Perú. Areli plans to publish her dissertation so it is currently being withheld.

Johnny Mack Discusses His Work, His Trudeau Scholarship, and UVic Law

PhD candidate and Trudeau Scholar Johnny Mack discusses his work identifying laws relied upon by the Nuu-chah-nulth to create political community and hold it accountable to the land and people.

Two LL.M. Students Submit Their Final Theses

We’re very proud to announce that two LL.M. theses were submitted on February 2nd.

Geoffrey Conrad Geoffrey's thesis, Exemplars or Exceptions: Imagining Constitutional Courts in a Religiously Diverse Society, was supervised by Professors Benjamin Berger and Avigail Eisenberg (POLI).
Soudeh Nouri Soudeh's thesis, When an Intellectual Property Right Becomes an Intellectual Property Wrong: Re-examining the Role of Section 32 of the Competition Act, was supervised by Professors Robert Howell, William A.W. Neilson, and Rebecca Grant (BUSI).

UVic Law Ph.D. Alum Appointed Deputy Director

Ph.D. in Law and Society alum, Nguyen Van Cuong, was appointed Deputy Director of the Institute of Legal Sciences (Ministry of Justice of Vietnam) starting January 19th.

Nguyen Van Cuong completed his Ph.D. at UVic Law in July 2011 and we're delighted to see him already moving on to an exciting and challenging new role.

Johnny Mack Receives CCCBE Fellowship

Ph.D. candidate Johnny Mack is a recent recipient of a 2012-2013 Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy fellowship.

"The purpose of the fellowship is to provide graduate students working on research projects related to co-operative and community-based economy with financial support, suitable space, and a stimulating environment conducive to writing and reflection."

Read more... >

Jing Qian Receives Annual Cai Dingjian Constitutional Law Fund Award for Outstanding Paper

We would like to congratulate one of our very active Ph.D. Candidates, Jing Qian, for winning the 2011 Cai Dingjian Constitutional Law Fund’s annual Outstanding Paper Award in Beijing, China for his recent paper on the administrative regulatory framework of land issues.

The Cai Dingjian Constitutional Law Fund was founded in memory of the late Chinese legal scholar Professor Cai Dingjian who dedicated his career to the Rule of Law and Democracy in China.

Jing was presented the award by Jiang Ping (below left), one of China’s most respected jurists.

Aimée Craft Successfully Completes her LL.M.

We're very proud to announce that Aimée Craft submitted her LL.M. thesis, Breathing Life Into the Stone Fort Treaty, on December 15th!

Aimée was supervised by Professors Jeremy Webber and Michael Asch (ANTH/POLI).

Convocation November 2011

Two LL.M. students received their Masters in Law and Society diplomas as part of this November's Fall 2011 Convocation Ceremony.

Daniel Parrott (shown below left with Law Supervisor Judy Fudge) submitted his LL.M. thesis The Role and Regulation of Private, For-Profit Employment Agencies in the British Columbia Labour Market and the Recruitment of Temporary Foreign Workers on August 24th.

Nancy Sandy (shown below center and below right with niece Marie Sandy) submitted her LL.M. thesis Reviving Secwepemc Child Welfare Jurisdiction on June 3rd.

Nancy has also been featured in the Fall 2011 Convocation Issue of The Ring, Law grad reaches back in time for safety of children and families.

Ph.D. student, Nguyen Van Cuong, having already returned to his home country of Vietnam, was unable to attend the ceremony.

A huge congratulations to Daniel, Nancy, and Cuong from all of us at UVic Law!

Two Successful Recipients of UVic Graduate Donor Awards

Two Graduate Program students were recently awarded graduate scholarships by the Graduate Faculty Awards Committee for 2011-2012:

	Michelle Zakrison was the successful recipient of the 2011-2012 Edra Ferguson Graduate Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student entering the LLM or PhD program in the Faculty of Law whose focus of study is Aboriginal Law.
	Benjamin Isitt was the successful recipient of the Howard E. Petch Research Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to outstanding graduate students who have been successful in receiving University of Victoria Fellowships or major Canadian national awards.

Congratulations to Michelle and Ben for their success!

Three LL.M. Students Complete Their Theses

Early October was an exciting time for the Graduate Program in Law and Society with three new LL.M. theses being submitted.

Jeanette Gevikoglu Jeanette submitted her thesis, Sentenced to Sovereignty: Sentencing, Sovereignty, and Identity in the Nunavut Court of Justice, on October 4th. She was supervised by Professors Benjamin Berger and James Hopkins. Jeanette has resumed her position as crown attorney in the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Iqaluit.
Connie Nisbet Connie submitted her thesis, Living Responsibilities: Indigenous Notions of Sustainability and Governance in Action, on October 3rd. She was supervised by Professors Chris Tollefson and Jeff Corntassel (IGOV). Connie has recently begun a new position at the New Zealand Waitangi Tribunal.
Jennifer Smith Jennifer submitted her thesis, Sustainable Governance in Voluntary Forest Carbon Standards, on October 5th. She was supervised by Professors Chris Tollefson and Meinhard Doelle (Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University). Jennifer will now begin a Ph.D program at UVic Law in the area of environmental displacement of human populations and the concept of climate change refugees under the supervision of Professors Donald Galloway and Chris Tollefson.

Daniel Parrott Successfully Completes his LL.M.

We’re very proud to announce that Daniel Parrott submitted his LL.M. thesis, The Role and Regulation of Private, For-Profit Employment Agencies in the British Columbia Labour Market and the Recruitment of Temporary Foreign Workers, on August 24th!

Daniel was supervised by Professors Judy Fudge and Margo Matwychuk (ANTH).

Nguyen Van Cuong Successfully Completes PhD in Law and Society

A huge congratulations to Nguyen Van Cuong for submitting his Ph.D. dissertation, The Drafting of Vietnam’s Consumer Protection Law: An Analysis from Legal Transplantation Theories.

Shown from l to r: Mark Sidel, Connie Carter, Andrew Harding,
Nguyen Van Cuong, William Neilson, Jeremy Webber, Luke Carson

Cuong’s successful oral defence took place on the morning of July 11th and was chaired by Luke Carson (ENGL) and Mark Sidel from the University of Wisconsin-Madison was Cuong's External Examiner. Professors Andrew Harding, William Neilson, Connie Carter (from Royal Roads University), and Jeremy Webber were Cuong’s supervisory committee members.

Cuong completed his doctorate within record-breaking time—just under three years! No doubt his remarkable achievement was, in part, inspired by his desire to return to Hanoi to be with his wife, Tran Thi Minh Nguyet, and daughter, Nguyen Minh Hang (shown here), who was born while Cuong was studying at UVic.

Jennifer Smith Receives Law Society Scholarship

LL.M. candidate Jennifer Smith is the recipient of the $12,000 Law Society Scholarship for 2011.

Read more about the scholarship and Jennifer's research in the recent Law Society of British Columbia Bencher's Bulletin.

Nancy Sandy Successfully Completes Her LL.M.

A huge congratulations to Nancy Sandy for submitting her LL.M. thesis, Reviving Secwepemc Child Welfare Jurisdiction, on June 3rd!

Nancy was supervised by Professors John Borrows and Cathy Richardson (SOCW).

Johnny Mack Awarded Trudeau Scholarship

Ph.D. candidate Johnny Mack is one of 14 doctoral students across Canada who has recieved a prestigious $180,000 three-year Trudeau Scholarship from the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

Read more... >

Please note that obtaining a graduate degree in Canada does not qualify students who do not have an LL.B. or J.D. from a Canadian university to practice law in Canada. International students who are interested in practising law in Canada should contact the National Committee on Accreditation.