Legal Studies

Code	Course Description
LGST 1110	Legal Research & Reasoning This course is designed to give students an understanding of the purposes and processes of legal research and reasoning. Students will learn basic legal research skills using predominantly electronic resources. The course will cover the elements of legal analysis and reasoning in common law systems. Through a case review approach, students will look at various substantive law problems to develop an understanding of legal reasoning as one form of analytical thinking.
LGST 1120	Legal Process and Remedies This course overviews the basic legal processes in Canada and the remedies available to litigants. It examines the structure of civil actions, criminal prosecutions and administrative law proceedings. It reviews statutory, procedural, common law, and equitable remedies available in the courts and explores the growth of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Key concepts, including jurisdiction, standing, parties, pleadings, orders, trials, juries, appeals, procedural fairness, judicial review and the adversarial system, are examined.
LGST 2210	Private Law This course examines the role of law in regulating four types of legal relationships: relationships established by agreement (contract law); relationships based upon widely recognized legal duties owed to others (tort law); relationships based upon respective interests in property (property law); and relationships based upon fiduciary obligations (the law of trusts). Throughout the course consideration will be given to the role of government in regulating private law relationships.
LGST 2220	Public Law This course examines important legal limitations that are imposed on those who exercise governmental power. Particular attention will be paid to the requirement that administrative decision making be procedurally fair, and that any exercise of administrative authority must be within the boundaries of the law. The course will also examine the mechanisms and remedies that are available where persons believe these requirements have not been met, with particular attention paid to the power of judicial review. To further illustrate administrative law principles in practice, the course will examine specific areas of law where administrative law principles play a central role, including human rights law and immigration law.
LGST 3310	Love, Sex, Relationships and Law This course examines the legal context within which people develop and have personal relationships. From conception and gestation, through childhood, the teen years, adulthood and ultimately death, one has a series of relationships with others, and all of these relationships are shaped by the law. The course will examine how these relationships are shaped by law from conception through childhood, the teenage years, adult years and the last years of life. Along the way, the course will examine the legal status of the fetus and child, parental rights and responsibilities relating to children, the development of sexual relationships, marriage and marriage-like relationships, the breakdown of relationships, and ultimately later in life issues like adult incapacity and guardianship, wills and estates.
LGST 3320	Immigration Law This course examines the Canadian Immigration system and its role in meeting Canada’s economic, social and security needs. Particular attention will be paid to mechanisms and remedies available to those who wish to visit, study, work, seek refuge and/or immigrate to Canada. Selection, inadmissibility, discretion and process will be examined within Canada’s immigration, refugee, security, and international law regimes. Administrative law and Constitutional law principles will be examined through text books, case law, and practical examples. A systems approach will be taken with a particular focus on border security, criminality, and anti-terrorism laws.
LGST 3330	Indigenous Peoples and the Law This course attends to the rapidly evolving legal landscape of Aboriginal Law in Canada. The focus is on the interaction of Canadian politics, Parliament, and codified and common law surrounding sovereignty, rights, title and treaties. This complex and often litigious subject matter is approached from historical, social and legal contexts. Specific attention will include the Canadian Criminal Justice System particularly the impact of landmark Supreme Court decisions and the influence of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
LGST 3350	International Human Rights The course focuses on the history, development and present day exploration of International Human Rights. The course will assess the structure and standards that govern international human rights law, including an exploration into what international law is and how it is made. The course will consider the international and regional human rights systems and the range of legal instruments and standards that have been developed. Overall, the course will provide a solid and comprehensive introduction to the concept, study and practicalities of human rights in an international context.