Peter Oliver
Peter Oliver
Full Professor

B.A . (Toronto)
L.L.B., B.C.L. (McGill)
D. Phil. (Oxford)

Room
57 Louis Pasteur St., Room 321
Phone
Office: 613-562-5800 ext. 3173


Biography

Before returning to Canada in 2005, Professor Peter Oliver held a Chair in Law at the University of London (KCL) and a post as professeur invité at Université Toulouse I.  In 2005-6 he was Scholar-in-Residence in the Constitutional, Administrative and International Law Section (CAILS) of Justice Canada.  In 2006-7 he served as Special Advisor, Legal and Constitutional Affairs at the Intergovernmental Affairs Secretariat of the Privy Council Office, where he and other team members won the Privy Council Merit Award for work relating to the debates around the Quebec Nation resolution. Since coming to the Faculty of Law, Professor Oliver has served as Vice Dean (Program, Research) on two occasions. He has been a member of the Civil Law Section since 2022, while still teaching two courses each year for the Common Law Section. He was one of the founders of the uOttawa Public Law Group and, with Professor Vanessa MacDonnell, founding co-director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre. He was co-Convenor, with Michael Pal and Jason Varuhas, of the fourth version of the Public Law Conference that was to have taken place in Ottawa, Canada, June 18-20, 2020 but which unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the global pandemic.  

Professor Oliver's early-career research focussed on a range of constitutional questions. His theoretical, comparative and historical approach has been applied to practical legal problems, such Commonwealth devolution, ever-closer European union, independence, secession and federalism.  Much of this research focused on shifting understandings of two central theoretical concepts: ‘sovereignty’ and ‘legal system’. His treatment of both concepts yielded a theoretical account of fundamental legal transitions, one whose practical consequence is to explain how constitutional continuity can produce constitutional independence. His work has been cited in leading publications in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.  His approach to constitutional continuity and constitutional independence is discussed comprehensively in his 2005 book, The Constitution of Independence: The Development of Constitutional Theory in Australia, Canada and New Zealand (Oxford University Press). This research contributed to the revival of interest in Commonwealth law, politics and history. His research often sought to retrieve forgotten Commonwealth scholarship and apply it to new contexts, including UK-Europe, UK-Scotland and Canada-Quebec. Professor Oliver’s work on sovereignty and legal systems has been cited in leading publications around the world. By way of  example: Australian scholar, Jeffrey Goldsworthy, devoted a full chapter of his 2010 monograph, Parliamentary Sovereignty: Contemporary Debates, to discussing Oliver’s work; in his review of The Constitution of Independence for the leading journal, Public Law, David Dyzenhaus, professor of law and philosophy at the University of Toronto, described Oliver’s work as ‘an excellent example of how theory and legal history can be mutually illuminating’; and Andrew Macdonald, of the University of California at Berkeley, referred to it as “formidable scholarship … scholarly, rigorous and illuminating”.  The distinguished Society of Legal Scholars, based in the UK, awarded Oliver one of the prestigious Peter Birks Prizes “for Outstanding Legal Scholarship” in 2006.  

Professor Oliver’s more recent writing explores Canadian constitutional issues, particularly with regard to the federal division of powers, constitutional history and constitutional theory. In this body of work, one sees the same attributes that distinguished his earlier work: that is, the identification of the unstated theoretical assumptions that underlie constitutional debates, their evolution over Canada’s history, and their relation to comparable developments in other countries.    

Professor Oliver was awarded an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in 2023 to fund a five-year research project on Canadian constitutional law and a “sustainable jurisprudence” – that is, a theoretical framework that sees law as both an authoritative standard and as an enduring, necessarily adaptable, ongoing project -- one that is able to meet the needs of the present even as it helps future generations meet their own, possibly quite different needs. The project considers the relevance of several factors for this framework, such as the legitimacy and authority of rules emanating from recognized sources, as well as the moral quality of these rules. Most distinctively, however, a sustainable jurisprudence encourages us to consider the appropriateness of those rules to ongoing, often changing contexts. Environmental challenges, public health crises and the rise of artificial intelligence are but a few of the changing contexts that are contributing to current debates among constitutional scholars, including discussion of whether our fundamental laws need to be adapted to better reflect and respond to new realities faced by Canadians.  These issues arise, for example, in the debates between living tree constitutionalism and originalism, in the discussion of the proper role of unwritten constitutional principles, and in the ongoing debates regarding the proper judicial role.  

Professor Oliver has been invited to present his research all around the world, notably at first-class institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Edinburgh, the Max Planck Institute, Heidelberg, the University of Melbourne, the University of Toronto, McGill University, Université Toulouse I and Université de Montréal. He has been invited as a keynote speaker at the Constitutional, International and Administrative Law Conference organized by Justice Canada on two occasions.  Professor Oliver was appointed as the Christensen Visiting Fellow at St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford in 2015.  He was co-editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Canadian Constitution (2017). He is a member of the Constitutional Law Group that together write and edit the leading English-language casebook, Canadian Constitutional Law (Emond). In 2019, Professor Oliver was awarded an Outstanding Contributor prize by the Ottawa Law Review. In 2020, he was awarded the Excellence in Research Award by the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section. He was the recipient of the University College Alumni of Influence Award in 2021. In 2022, he was honoured for his teaching by the student association at the Faculty of Law. 

Publications

Other publications

  • Approches et fondements du droit: Branches du droit et concepts juridiques (Montreal: Éditions Yvon Blais, 2019)(Stéphane Bernatchez & Louise Lalonde, eds)(one of the 10 members of the comité scientifique)(13 chapters)(527 pages) 
  • Approches et fondements du droit: Interdisciplinarité et théories critiques (Montreal: Éditions Yvon Blais, 2019)(Stéphane Bernatchez & Louise Lalonde, eds)(one of the 10 members of the comité scientifique)(13 chapters)(592 pages) 
  • Approches et fondments du droit: Philosophies et théories juridiques (Montreal: Éditions Yvon Blais, 2019)(Stéphane Bernatchez & Louise Lalonde, eds)(one of the 10 members of the comité scientifique)(13 chapiters)(575 pages) 
  • Approches et fondements du droit: Épistémologie et méthodologie juridiques (Montreal: Éditions Yvon Blais, 2019)(Stéphane Bernatchez et Louise Lalonde, eds)(one of 10 members of the comité scientifique)(16 chapitres)(450 pages) 
  • McGill Law Journal, Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation (Toronto: Carswell, 1986) (Member of editorial board for first edition; researched and drafted section on citation of constitutional statutes) 
  • Documents and Legislative Texts Relating to the Constitution Act, 1982 (P. Oliver, ed.) (Montreal: Trandek Ltd, 1986). (issue published as part of Volume 30 and as separate publication)(sole author of accompanying commentary) (252 pages) 
  • McGill Law Journal, Volume 30 (1984-85)(Editor-in-Chief) 

Supreme Court of Canada citations of authored or edited works

  • AG Canada c. Restoule, 2024 SCC 27, para. 113.  
  • Société des casinos du Québec v Association des cadres de la Sociéte des casinos du Québec, 2024 SCC 13, para 43.
  • Dickson v. Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, 2024 SCC 10, paras 264 et 281.  
  • City of Toronto v. A.G. Ontario, 2021 SCC 34: paras 164-65.  
  • Newfoundland and Labrador (AG) v. Uashaunnuat (Innu of Uashat and of Mani-Utenam), 2020 SCC 4, para. 568.  
  • R v. C.P., 2021 SCC 19, para. 174.  
  • Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, 2021 SCC 11, paras 126, 568.  
  • Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, 2014, SCC 21: para. 96.  
  • “Defining Moments: The Canadian Constitution”, speech by Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada, 13 February 2014.  

Conference papers and visiting lectures:

  • “Public Law and Comparative Perspectives on the Proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act: The Challenges of Law-Making in a Fast-Moving Sector”, paper presented (with Professor Céline Castets-Renard (Ottawa)) at the Public Law Conference, Ottawa, 4 July 2024.
  • “Public Law and Comparative Perspectives on the Proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act: The Challenges of Law-Making in a Fast-Moving Sector”, paper presented (with Professor Céline Castets-Renard (Ottawa) at an Ottawa-Queen's Works-in-Progress workshop, Centre de droit public uOttawa Public Law Centre, Ottawa, 2 May 2024.
  • “The Division of Powers”, presented online as part of the Contemporary Issues in Canadian Federalism Series offered by the Canada School of Public Service on Legal Issues in Contemporary Federalism (with Professor Johanne Poirier (McGill)), 15 November 2023.
  • “Law and Social Science : A Sustainable Jurisprudence of Canadian Federalism”, presented as part of an interdisciplinary conference at Waterloo University, 13 October 2023. 
  • “Public Law and the Future: A Sustainable Jurisprudence”, presented at the Public Law Conference, UCD, Dublin, Ireland, Thursday 7 July 2022. 
  • “Spending and Health, Spending or Health”, presentation to Policy Salon: Policy Options for Dental Care, University of Ottawa, 5 June 2022. 
  • "Canada, Quebec and Constitutional Amendment", presentation in Professor Richard Albert's "Constitutional Reform in Canada" Seminar, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 29 September 2021. 
  • " Fiscal Federalism and the Federal Spending Power:  A Legal and Constitutional Analysis ", online presentation as part of a three-day conference on Fiscal Federalism in Canada, University of Ottawa, 21-23 April 2021. 
  • "The Double Aspect Doctrine in Reference re Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act ", online presentation in Professor Wade Wright's "Current Issues in Public Law" Seminar, Faculty of Law, Western University, 8 January 2021 (with Nathalie J. Chalifour). 
  • "Supervision and Enforcement of Public Law Administration -- Comments on Chapter 10 of Lionel Smith's Draft Book, Stepping Outside of Ourselves: How We Act for Others in Law", presented at two-day online workshop organized by the Faculty of Law, McGill University, 18 and 25 September 2020. 
  • "'Dominion Status': History, Framework and Context", paper presented as part of an online seminar on New Dominion Constitutionalism and New Directions in Comparative Constitutional Research, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 7 July 2020. 
  • " Sustainable Jurisprudence : Une théorie de droit durable ", paper prepared for the lunchtime seminar series, Civil Law Section, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 31 March 2020 (postponed due to  COVID-19). 
  • “Partnerships Within Law: Dialogues Between Doctrinal and Socio-Legal Scholarship”, paper presented at the Canadian Law & Society Association Conference, Ottawa, 18 October 2019. 
  • “RTE Latham and Change in the Ultimate Rules of a Legal System”, paper presented at a Conference in Honour of Richard Kay”, Faculty of Law, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, 13 September 2019. 
  • “‘A Constitution Similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom’: Constitutional Principles and the Importance of Context – A Sustainable Jurisprudence”, paper presented at ICON-S Public Law Conference, Santiago, Chile, 2 July 2019. 
  • Comments on Nicholas Barber’s Principles of Constitutionalism (OUP, 2018) paper presented at ICON-S Public Law Conference, Santiago, Chile, 1 July 2019. 
  • “Canada and the Living Tree”, paper presented at ICON-S Public Law Conference, Santiago, Chile, 1 July 2019“Sustainable Jurisprudence and Constitutional Reasoning”, paper presented at the 2nd annual Ottawa-Queen’s public law works-in-progress seminar, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, 13 May 2019. 
  • “A Constitution Similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom, Constitutional Principles and the Importance of Context”, paper presented at a workshop on unwritten constitutional norms and principles, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 21-22 March 2019. 
  • “The Flexibility of Constitutions”, paper presented as part of the “Remaking the UK Constitution” Conference, Bonavero Institute of Human Rights, University of Oxford, 22 February 2019. 
  • “Parlons recherche – Talking About Research”, Opening address for a two-day Faculty of Law even on the creation and maintenance of a research culture, 23-24 October 2018. 
  • “Sovereignty and Legality: Comments on Chapter 7 of Mark Walters’ draft book, A.V. Dicey and the Common Law Constitutional Tradition”, presented at two-day workshop, Faculty of Law, McGill University, 14-15 September 2018. 
  • “Sustainable Jurisprudence: Constitutional Reasoning, Constitutional Crises and the Rule of Law”, presented to Workshop on Constitutional Reasoning, International Association of Constitutional Law Conference, Seoul, South Korea, 21 June 2018. 
  • “Sustainable Jurisprudence”, Keynote address to Graduate Student Conference, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 10 May 2018. 
  • “Constitutional Boundaries: The Relevance of Past, Present and Future to the Concept of (Constitutional) Law”, presented to Joint Queen’s-uOttawa Works in Progress Workshop, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 10 May 2018. 
  • “The Boundary Between Past and Future: A Future-Oriented Approach to Law, Legal System and Adjudication”, paper presented at Constitutional Boundaries Workshop, Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne, 26 August 2017. 
  • “Goodbye to Watertight Compartments”, paper presented at Constitutional and Administrative Law Section Conference, National Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 6 June 2017. 
  • “Goodbye to Watertight Compartments”, paper presented at Constitution150 Confererence, Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal, 16 May 2017 
  • Dominion Status: Framework and History”, paper presented at Modern Law Review Workshop Series on Dominion Status at the End of Empire, City University London, 6 June 2016. 
  • “Hard Cases in Constitutional Law and the Importance of Context”, paper presented at Work in Progress Seminar, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 15 April 2016. 
  • “Parliamentary Sovereignty, Federalism and the Commonwealth”, paper presented at Conference on Federalism Within and Without the United Kingdom, Faculty of Law, University of Durham, 29 November 2015. 
  • “Hard Cases in Constitutional Law and the Importance of Context”, Legal Theory Workshop, Faculty of Law, McGill University, 26 October 2015. 
  • “Election Post Mortem”, paper presented at the Social Justice Group seminar, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 20 October 2015. 
  • “Post-Election Scenarios: Conventions, Confidence and Caretakers”, paper presented at roundtable organised by the Public Law Group, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 13 October 2015. 
  • “Paradoxes and Puzzles in Constitutional Change: Scotland, Europe, Canada”, St Catherine’s College Research Talks, St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, 17 June 2015. 
  • “The Living Tree in Theory and Practice”, paper presented as part of a seminar on “The Canadian Doctrine of the Living Tree” (other paper presented by Justice Robert Sharpe of the Ontario Court of Appeal), organized by Oxford Law and Public Affairs, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, 19 May 2015. 
  • “Canadian Perspectives”, paper presented at Conference on How Federal is Britain: Self-Rule and Shared Rule in the Evolving Constitution, organised by ESRC Centre on Constitutional Change, Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law and the Forum of the Federations, at the University of Edinburgh, 21 April 2015. 
  • “Federalism and Intergovernmental Structures in Canada”, paper presented at High Commission of Canada seminar on Multilevel Governance in a Westminster-Style Parliamentary Democracy: The Canadian Experience, Canada House, Trafalgar Square, London, 24 March 2015. 
  • “Change in the Ultimate Rules of a Legal System”, paper presented to Jurisprudence Discussion Group, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford, 22 January 2015. 
  • “The ‘Constitution of Canada’ after Nadon/La ‘Constitution du Canada’ après Nadon”, paper presented at a Symposium on Appointing Judges in the 21st Century : Reflections on the Nadon Reference, organised by the Public Law Group,  Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 28 May 2014. 
  • “The federal spending power”, keynote speaker, 30th Constitutional and Administrative Law Conference, Justice Canada, Ottawa, 9 May 2013. 
  • "Le rôle des conventions conventionnelles devant les tribunaux canadiens: les renvois et les litiges ordinaires", Paper presented at the Matinées constitutionnelles, Faculté de droit, Université de Montréal, 24 January 2013. 
  • “The evolution of Canadian federalism since 1982”, Constitution @ 30 Conference, Ottawa, 17 April 2012. 
  • « L’évolution du fédéralisme canadien depuis 1982 », Conférence Constitution @ 30, Ottawa, 17 avril 2012. 
  • « Le pouvoir fédéral de dépenser », Staff discussion group, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, February 2012. 
  • “Justiciability and Deference in Constitutional and Administrative Law”, Training Session, Constitutional Administrative and International Law Section Training, Justice Canada, 12 January 2012 
  • « L’arrêt Insite et l’exclusivité des compétences provinciales », Conférence sur les enjeux émergents en droit public canadien, Ottawa, le 25 mai 2011. 
  • “Canadian Federalism: Health and Education”, Paper presented to Canadian Bar Association seminar on The Constituent Assembly and Constitution-Making in Nepal: Lessons from Canada, October 2010. 
  • “The Codification of Constitutional Conventions”, co-organizer and panelist -- Canada’s New Governor General: The Challenges Ahead, University of Ottawa, 28 September 2010. 
  • “The Supreme Court of Canada : Constitutional Conventions, Constitutional Principles and ‘A Constitution Similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom’”, Panel on the Politicization of the Judiciary/Judiciarization of Politics, Canadian Political Science Association, 1 June 2010. 
  • “The Federal Spending Power”, paper presented to Federalism and Institutions Study and Research Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, 7 April 2010. 
  •  “Unjust Enrichment in Public and Private Law”, paper presented at conference on Philosophical Foundations of Unjust Enrichment, London, England, 12 April 2008. 
  •  “Choice of Policy Instrument”, paper presented to Legal Operations Branch of Privy Council Office, Government of Canada, Ottawa, 1 June 2007. 
  • “Recent Developments in Parliamentary Sovereignty in the United Kingdom”, paper presented at Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa, 18 January 2007. 
  • “The Red Rose and the Maple Leaf: Canada-UK Comparisons”, paper presented to Directors of Public Law Section, Justice Canada, Cantley, Quebec, 17 January 2007. 
  • “Constitutional Foundations: “The Constitution of Canada and Reception, Amendment and Sovereignty of the Constitution of Canada, Parliamentary Sovereignty”, paper presented at Privy Council Office, Government of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 2 December 2006. 
  •  “Constitutional Fundamentals: Constitutional Conventions, Parliamentary Sovereignty and ‘A Constitution Similar in Principle to that of the United Kingdom’”, paper presented at Privy Council Office, Government of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 25 October 2006. 
  • “Fish, More Fish and Foxes: Recent Developments in Parliamentary Sovereignty in the United Kingdom”, keynote speaker, Constitutional and Administrative Law Section Conference, Canadian Government Conference Centre, Ottawa, Canada, 28 April 2006. 
  • “Commonwealth Constitutional Development – Lessons for Constitutional Theory”, paper presented to Staff Seminar Series, Faculty of Law, McGill University, Montreal, Canada, 27 April 2006. 
  • “Commonwealth Constitutional Development – Lessons for Constitutional Theory”, paper presented to Constitutional Law Roundtable/Legal Theory Workshop, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, 28 March 2006. 
  • “Recent Developments in Parliamentary Sovereignty in the United Kingdom”, paper presented to Toronto Office, Department of Justice Canada, 27 March 2006. 
  • “Commonwealth Constitutional Development – Lessons for Constitutional Theory”, paper presented as part of Visiting Lecture series, Faculty of Law, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, 23 March 2006. 
  • “Sovereignty and Canada’s Constitutional Independence”, paper presented to Toronto Office, Department of Justice Canada, 2 March 2006. 
  • “Sovereignty and Canada’s Constitutional Independence”, paper presented to Public Law Section, Department of Justice Canada, 22 February 2006. 
  • “Commonwealth Constitutional Development – Lessons for Constitutional Theory”, paper presented as part of Visiting Lecture series, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, Kingston, Canada, 6 February 2006. 
  • “Parliamentary Sovereignty in the United Kingdom – Recent Developments”, paper presented to Public Law Section, Department of Justice, Canada, 1 December 2005. 
  • “Constitutional Continuity and the European Legal Order: Sovereignty and Legal Systems”, paper presented to King's College London-Max Planck Institute Seminar Series, Heidelberg, Germany, 7-8 July 2005. 
  • “Building a United Kingdom Constitution”, paper presented to Staff Seminar Series, King’s College London, 16 March 2005. 
  • Three-Lecture Series as part of the Associate of King’s College (AKC) degree, “Europe, Devolution and Sovereignty”, January-March 2005. 
  • “Sovereignty and Legal Systems”, paper presented to Oxford University B.C.L. Constitutional Theory students, 18 May 2004. 
  • “Quebec and Constitutional Amendment”, paper presented at “Constitutionalism & Cultural Pluralism: Lessons from Canada” Conference, Faculty of Law, Canadian Studies Programme, University of Edinburgh, 27 April 2004. 
  • “Sovereignty and Legal Systems: The Commonwealth and Europe”, paper presented to Research Seminar, Centre of European Law – Max Planck Institute Heidelberg, King’s College London, 23 January 2004. 
  • “Sovereignty and Legal Systems: the Commonwealth and the EU Compared”, paper presented to Deutcher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Law Conference, Cumberland Lodge, 18 June 2003. 
  • “Loss of Chance in the Supreme Court of Canada”, paper presented to Senior Practitioners Seminar, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 11 June 2003. 
  • “Comments on the Misuse of Kelsen’s Theory”, paper presented to Conference on the Legal Deterrent to Coups, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 16 January 2001. 
  • “Power”, paper presented to Conference on Absolute Authority, King’s College Law Student Society, Cumberland Lodge, 18 November 2000. 
  • Three-Lecture Series as part of the Associate of King’s College (AKC) degree, “Constitutional Dimensions of Justice”, October-November 2000. 
  • “Sovereignty and Legal Systems: The Commonwealth and the European Union”, paper presented in the Law Faculty seminar series, University of Reading, 3 May 2000. 
  •  “The Quebec Secession Reference: Domestic and International Law”, paper presented to Conference on Accommodating National Identity, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, 12 November 1998. 
  • “Sustaining Charity”, paper presented to Colloquium on Foundations of Charity, co-sponsored by the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), Modern Law Review (MLR) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), King’s College London, 14-5 September 1998. 
  • “The Foundations of Charity”, series of round table discussion involving participants in Foundations of Charity Conference, January- July 1998. 
  • “The Influence of Imperial Constitutional Theory in the Development of Australian, Canadian and New Zealand Legal Culture”, paper presented to Australia and New Zealand Legal History Conference, “Empires, Colonies, Legal Cultures”, University of Melbourne, Australia, 3-5 July 1998. 
  • “Diversity in the Constitutional Traditions of Australia, Canada and New Zealand”, paper presented to Association for Canadian Studies in Australia and New Zealand, “Diversity in Australia, Canada and New Zealand”, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia, 9-11 July 1998. 
  • “Remembering R.T.E. Latham”, paper presented to King’s College London Law Student Society Conference, Cumberland Lodge, London, 22 November 1997. 
  •  “Constitutional Amendment in Canada”, paper presented to British Institute of International and Comparative Law Conference, Cumberland Lodge, London, 8 April 1997. 
  • “Constitutional Change in the United Kingdom”, paper presented to British Institute of International and Comparative Law Conference, Cumberland Lodge, London, 11 April 1997. 
  • “Dicey and the Dominions: The Influence of British Legal Thinking on the Development of the Canadian Constitution”, paper presented to British Association of Canadian Studies Annual Conference, University of Swansea, Wales, 25 March, 1997. 
  • “The Patriation of the Canadian Constitution: Continuity and Change”, paper presented at Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London, 17 February 1997. 
  • Le  ‘trust' anglais -- hier et aujourd’hui”, inaugural lecture as visiting professor in English Law, University of Toulouse I, Toulouse, France, February 1996. 
  • “Law and Postmodernism”, paper presented to King's College London Staff Discussion Group, 5 December 1996. 
  •  “The Nature of (the) Trust”, paper presented as part of the King’s College London Legal Theory Seminars, The Theory and Politics of Private Law, 16 October 1996. 

Editorial Boards

Faculty Advisor, Ottawa Law Review, 2013-4, 2015-6 

Advisory Board, McGill Law Journal, 2013–5 

Editorial Board Member, National Journal of Constitutional Law, 2010– 

Editorial Board Member, King’s Law Journal, 2008– 

General Editor (with Charles Mitchell), King’s Law Journal (formerly King’s College Law Journal), 2006-8. 

Analysis Editor, King’s College Law Journal, 2003-6 

Book Review Editor, Trust Law International (1995-1998) 

Editorial Board and Advisory Board, McGill Guide to Legal Citation, 1986-96. 

Editor-in-Chief, McGill Law Journal, Volume 30 (4 issues). 

Doctoral Supervision:

Supervisor (January 2020-June 2023) 
Katie Szylagyi, Doctorate, Completed (Winner of Governor General’s Gold Medal) 
Thesis/Project Title: “Artificial Intelligence and the Machine-atition of the Rule of Law” 

Supervisor (April 2019 -) 
Martha McDougall, Doctorate in Progress 
PhD, University of Ottawa 
Thesis Title: “The History of the Military Matters: How Public Law Came to Govern the Military and its Members in Canada” 

Supervisor (September 2021 -) 
Fatima Tajini, Doctorate in Progress 
PhD, University of Ottawa 
Thesis/Project Title: “Effectivité de la loi sur la violence et le harcèlement à l’égard des femmes dans le monde de travail au Maroc” 

Supervisor (January 2013-) 
Purush Purushothaman, Doctorate, In Progress 
PhD, University of Ottawa 
Thesis/Project Title: “Rediscovering the Constituent Power: The Challenge of Reconciling the Basic Structure Doctrine with Popular Sovereignty in India” 

Supervisor (September 2009 - June 2015) 
Erika Arban, Doctorate, Completed (Winner of Governor General’s Gold Medal) 
PhD, University of Ottawa 
Student Country of Citizenship:  Italy 
Thesis/Project Title: “Italian Regionalism and the Federal Challenge” 

Supervisor (September 2009 – October 2013) 
Nelson Dordelly Rosales, Doctorate, Completed 
PhD, University of Ottawa 
Student Country of Citizenship:  Venezuela 
Thesis/Project Title: “Constitutional Jurisprudence in the Supreme Court of Venezuela” 

Doctoral Committees (Sarah, Burton, Anne Des Ormeaux, John Mamianskum, Renata Pimental-Watkin, Vicki Trerise, Amanda Turnbull (Osgoode)(completed July 2024), Blanche Daban (Paris-Ottawa))