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Rosalie Jukier

McGill University, Law, Faculty Member

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Since 1985, Rosalie Jukier has been a professor in McGill’s Faculty of Law where she teaches in both the civil and common law legal traditions, primarily in the areas of Contractual Obligations and Judicial Institutions and Civil Procedure.

Professor Jukier’s research focuses on comparative Contract Law (particularly the remedy of Specific Performance and the intersection of religious rights and private contract law), the impact of legal traditions and mixed legal systems on Procedural Law and Judicial Methodology, as well as on Legal Pedagogy.

In 2004, Professor Jukier was recognized with the John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence Award and in 2010 with the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in Teaching. Principal’s Teaching Excellence Award.

Professor Jukier held the position of McGill University’s Dean of Students from 1995-2001 and has served the Faculty of Law as Associate Dean, Admissions (1991-1995), Associate Dean Strategic Planning (2004-2005) and Associate Dean Graduate Studies (2010-2013). In addition, from 2005-2007, she was a Senior Advisor to the National Judicial Institute in Ottawa, an organization dedicated to the development and delivery of legal education for judges.

Professor Rosalie Jukier is a graduate of McGill University’s Faculty of Law where, in 1983, she obtained her B.C.L. and LL.B. degrees graduating with the Elizabeth Torrance Gold Medal and the Aimé Geoffrion National Programme Gold Medal. She went on to pursue graduate studies in law at Oxford University and became a member of the Quebec Bar in 1986.

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Papers by Rosalie Jukier

Quebec Procedural Law as a Microcosm of Mixity: Implications for Legal Pedagogy, Judicial Decision-Making and Law Reform

Using procedural law in the mixed legal system of Quebec as a case study, this article examines t... more Using procedural law in the mixed legal system of Quebec as a case study, this article examines the impact of mixity from the perspective of the teacher, the judge and the legislator. First, the article explores the influence of mixity on legal pedagogy concluding that comparative or transsystemic legal study is a natural consequence of mixity. Next, the article studies the impact of mixity on judicial decision-making, such study indicating that the influence of several legal traditions in mixed legal systems has resulted in a unique judicial methodology. Finally, the impact of mixity on the legislator is examined, demonstrating how an increase in legal transplantation in the area of civil procedure has affected the legislative evolution of law creation, creating mixity in more and more legal systems.

The Legacy of Justice Louis Lebel: The Civilian Tradition and Procedural Law

In his 14 years on the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Justice Louis LeBel has left his... more In his 14 years on the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Justice Louis LeBel has left his mark on many areas of the law, including on a wide array of subject matters that fall within the law of Civil Procedure. As one of three Quebec judges on the Court, he has played a significant role in cases emanating from Quebec, profoundly influencing Quebec private law in general. More particularly, he has had an interesting and important influence in the area of Quebec procedural law because the areas of law that were the subject of many of his decisions, such as discovery in Lac d’Amiante, privilege in Globe and Mail, and class actions in Vivendi Canada, originated in the common law. His judgments, therefore, provide insight not only into the method of applying and interpreting civil procedure in Quebec, but also into the approach to legal transplants more generally. Justice LeBel’s ultimate legacy is the prioritization of the civilian tradition, its codal interpretation and methodological framework.

The Impact of Legal Traditions on Quebec Procedural Law: Lessons from Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure

The adoption of a new Code of Civil Procedure in Quebec provides an opportune moment to consider ... more The adoption of a new Code of Civil Procedure in Quebec provides an opportune moment to consider the reasons for, and consequences of, a new direction in adjectival law. Moreover, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the influence of legal traditions on civil procedure, and the role played by such traditions in the legislative evolution and judicial interpretation of procedural law. This paper analyzes the current trends in civil procedure in Quebec, from both legislative and judicial standpoints, and seeks to relate these trends to tradition-based influences. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that Quebec’s procedural law has experienced great swings of the pendulum – originally inheriting continental civilian procedure from the French, gradually evolving towards a very common law/adversarial notion of procedure, and now reverting back in a civiliste direction.

The Impact of 'Stateless Law' on Legal Pedagogy

This chapter focuses on an innovative form of legal pedagogy that moves legal education away from... more This chapter focuses on an innovative form of legal pedagogy that moves legal education away from its traditional model, bounded by state normativity, to one that is unbounded, freed from jurisdictional boundaries and integrative of legal traditions and systems. In canvassing the insights gained from breaking the mould of legal nationalism in the classroom, this chapter demonstrates the potential of a pluralistic, multi-systemic, global and, even perhaps, “stateless” concept of law and law teaching for inculcating flexible and creative thinking skills on the part of future jurists.

Religion and the Secular State in Canada

This article reflects the National Report from Canada on Religion and the Secular State prepared ... more This article reflects the National Report from Canada on Religion and the Secular State prepared by the co-authors for the XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law that took place in Washington, D.C., in July 2010. This Report provides a snapshot of the state of the law with respect to religion in Canada from a multitude of perspectives, touching on both its private law and public law dimensions, against the backdrop of the diverse and changing social and religious composition of Canada. The theoretical and constitutional frameworks, as well as important questions of the definition of secularity and the need for reasonable accommodation, are canvassed. Particular applications of religion and the secular state in the arenas of education, marriage and divorce, contracts, religious symbols and hate speech are also discussed.

Overcoming Pedagogical Solitude: The Transformative Power of Discipline-Specific Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

This article describes a multi-year Faculty Learning Community (FLC) program as a strategy to ove... more This article describes a multi-year Faculty Learning Community (FLC) program as a strategy to overcome pedagogical solitude (Shulman, 1993) in a discipline-specific context. Participant interviews shed light on their FLC experiences and perceived impact on their teaching and students’ learning. Grounded within the particularities of the disciplinary context and based on the results of interviews reflecting a highly positive experience, we articulate key factors that had a major role in the success of the FLCs, framed within Lee, Hyman and Luginbuhl’s (2007) concept of readiness. We also suggest contextual questions to consider when transferring our experience to other institutional contexts.

Forgotten? The Role of Graduate Legal Education in the Future of the Law Faculty

In this article, the authors argue that the longstanding trend of excluding graduate studies in l... more In this article, the authors argue that the longstanding trend of excluding graduate studies in law from the discourse on legal education has detrimental effects on both the discourse and the future of the law faculty. More specifically, disregarding graduate legal education is at odds with the reality of graduate studies in Canadian law faculties today, ignores the challenges of graduate programs in law, and perpetuates inaccurate distinctions about both the career aspirations of law students and the relationship between undergraduate and graduate legal studies. In the authors’ view, these concerns can be overcome by reframing the discourse. Once the purpose of legal education is understood to be the cultivation of jurists and the law faculty is seen as an integrated whole of people, place, and program, graduate legal education moves easily into the discussion on the future of the law faculty. Including graduate studies in the discourse is an opportunity to explore, and be hopeful about, the institutional missions of law faculties and their place in the university, the optimization of legal education at all levels, and the methods by which participants in graduate studies should fulfill their responsibilities to the future of the discipline.

Transcending Boundaries in Legal Education: A Vehicle for Teaching Students to Think Critically

Legal education has traditionally been defined by many boundaries. Characterized by taxonomic str... more Legal education has traditionally been defined by many boundaries. Characterized by taxonomic structures and doctrinal categories, legal education is, for the most part, still seen as inextricably linked to a particular political geography and state normativity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the pedagogical benefits of shattering established boundaries in legal education. It will assess how teaching from multiple perspectives in an integrated curriculum inculcates critical thinking skills in students, better enabling them to question assumptions, uncover hidden assumptions, and graduate as independent and innovative legal thinkers. Focusing on the ‘transsystemic’ McGill Law Program, this paper will discuss the rewards of engaging students in an intellectually pluralistic and tradition-neutral legal curriculum, one that eschews silos and borders and focuses on creating agile and creative minds in future jurists who will be able to confront contemporary legal issues holistically and with a critical perspective.

Inside the Judicial Mind: Exploring Judicial Methodology in the Mixed Legal System of Quebec

This article explores the judicial methodology in the mixed legal system of Quebec and examines, ... more This article explores the judicial methodology in the mixed legal system of Quebec and examines, in particular, how the nature of its legal system as a mixed legal system influences the judicial methodology of its judges, especially with respect to the de facto use of precedent. Features of the mixity, including the institutional setting of Quebec courts as courts of inherent jurisdiction, the nature of Quebec’s civil justice system and procedural law, as well as the judicial role and the effect of a supreme precedential authority (in the Supreme Court of Canada).

Contract Law: What Can Jersey Learn from the Quebec Experience?

In this article, the author traces the evolution of Quebec’s civilian legal system, as exemplifie... more In this article, the author traces the evolution of Quebec’s civilian legal system, as exemplified by the enactment of the modern Civil Code of Quebec which came into force in 1994. The Quebec perspective is presented to provide Jersey law reformers and jurists with an interesting, and even inspiring, example of how a jurisdiction that adheres to the civil law tradition in its private law, can successfully adapt and modernize its legal system without abandoning its civilian heritage. While the Quebec experience is not identical to that of Jersey, the similarities between the two jurisdictions ensure its relevance, particularly with respect to contractual obligations. As Jersey grapples with establishing its legal identity, the Quebec experience demonstrates that it is indeed possible to adapt a civilian legal system to one that functions well in the contemporary, economically-friendly environment of modern-day society.

Taking Specific Performance Seriously: Trumping Damages as the Presumptive Remedy for Breach of Contract

In this article, which canvasses the remedy of specific performance from a comparative perspectiv... more In this article, which canvasses the remedy of specific performance from a comparative perspective of both the civil and the common law traditions, the author explores both the theoretical and practical attributes of specific performance, and attempts to meet the objections to this remedy ranging from personal liberty concerns, arguments attributed to economic analysis, problems of imprecision and supervision and practical disadvantages. The author concludes with a proposal for treating the remedy as a presumptive remedy, as do many civilian jurisdictions, subject to some limitations that range from considerations of serious hardship, the good faith principle, and the will of the parties as demonstrated in contractually stipulated “damages only” clauses.

Civil Law and Religion in the Supreme Court of Canada: What Should We Get Out of Bruker V. Marcovitz?

As 2007 came to a close, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its judgment in Bruker v. Marcov... more As 2007 came to a close, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its judgment in Bruker v. Marcovitz. In doing so, the Court -- in both its majority and dissenting decisions -- found itself grappling with a dynamic mix of religious practices and state norms, family law and constitutional framework, private obligations and public policy. The actual story and its core issue of the overlap between contractual liability and religious law of divorce are not new. But the judgment invites renewed reflection on the entanglement, necessary yet challenging, between obligations articulated in state law on the one hand and religious law on the other.

Transnationalizing the Legal Curriculum: How to Teach What We Live

This article showcases the unique program of legal study at McGill University’s Faculty of Law wh... more This article showcases the unique program of legal study at McGill University’s Faculty of Law which integrates transnational legal perspectives into the legal curriculum and graduates all students with degrees in both Civil and Common Law, taught in a uniquely comparative, bilingual and integrated fashion. By freeing the study of law from traditional jurisdictional or systemic boundaries, the program succeeds in expanding the perspectives on legal education in an attempt to develop more agile legal minds in its students, and more outward-looking and more broadly-trained legal professionals in its graduates. The article canvasses the methodology of McGill’s legal pedagogy but also discusses the challenges of moving toward such an ambitious legal curriculum, how to overcome these challenges and the ultimate rewards of such a program.

Challenging the Existing Paradigm: How to Transnationalize the Legal Curriculum

This article reflects the author’s presentation at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS)... more This article reflects the author’s presentation at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in January 2006 on the panel entitled: “Integrating Transnational Perspectives into the First Year Curriculum: Institutional Support and Approaches to Integration”. The article outlines the unique law program at McGill University’s Faculty of Law that attempts both to integrate legal pedagogy, as well as to transnationalize the legal curriculum, by teaching different legal traditions and pluralistic visions of law within blended courses in a comparative, bilingual and dialogic classroom. The effects on course outlines, teaching plans and evaluations, as well as other challenges and rewards of this program, are canvassed.

Where Law and Pedagogy Meet in the Transsystemic Contracts Classroom

In this article, the author examines how the transsystemic McGill Programme, predicated on a uniq... more In this article, the author examines how the transsystemic McGill Programme, predicated on a uniquely comparative, bilingual, and dialogic theoretical foundation of legal education, operates “on the ground” in a first-year Contractual Obligations classroom. She describes generally how the McGill Programme distinguishes itself from other comparative or interdisciplinary projects in law, through its focus on integration rather than on a sequential comparison, as well as its attempt to link perspectives to mentalities of different traditions. The author concludes with a more detailed study of the area of specific performance as a particular application of a given legal phenomenon in different systemic contexts.

Banque Nationale Du Canada V. Houle (S.C.C.): Implications of an Expanded Doctrine of Abuse of Rights in Civilian Contract Law

The 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Banque Nationale du Canada v. Houle marked an import... more The 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Banque Nationale du Canada v. Houle marked an important moment in the development of the good faith doctrine in the civil law of Quebec. That decision firmly entrenched the doctrine of abuse of rights into Quebec contract law and paved the way for the codification of the good faith principle in article 1375 of the Civil Code of Quebec that came into force after this judgment in 1994. This case comment explores the judgment, both of the lower courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, and discusses the wider implications of the decision in the civil law generally and by way of comparison with the common law.

Non-Pecuniary Damages in Defamation Cases

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Snyder v. The Montreal Gazette (1988) provides an excel... more The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Snyder v. The Montreal Gazette (1988) provides an excellent opportunity to examine the issue of non-pecuniary or moral damages in defamation cases. This article canvasses the evaluation of non-pecuniary damages in defamation cases as well as the question of whether the ceiling on such damages, established by the Andrews Trilogy, ought to be applied in such cases. The author also discusses the availability of alternative remedies including injunctions, retractions and punitive damages.

The Emergence of Specific Performance as a Major Remedy in Quebec Law

In this article, the author examines Specific Performance as a remedy for the breach of contractu... more In this article, the author examines Specific Performance as a remedy for the breach of contractual obligations in Quebec law and applauds recent jurisprudential developments that have applied it as a principal recourse for creditors seeking to enforce even positive contractual obligations to do. These emerging jurisprudential trends are examined in light of historical and comparative perspectives, including the influence of the Common Law in this area, as well as in light of underlying contract theory and traditional arguments often asserted against the remedy.

Quebec Procedural Law as a Microcosm of Mixity: Implications for Legal Pedagogy, Judicial Decision-Making and Law Reform

Using procedural law in the mixed legal system of Quebec as a case study, this article examines t... more Using procedural law in the mixed legal system of Quebec as a case study, this article examines the impact of mixity from the perspective of the teacher, the judge and the legislator. First, the article explores the influence of mixity on legal pedagogy concluding that comparative or transsystemic legal study is a natural consequence of mixity. Next, the article studies the impact of mixity on judicial decision-making, such study indicating that the influence of several legal traditions in mixed legal systems has resulted in a unique judicial methodology. Finally, the impact of mixity on the legislator is examined, demonstrating how an increase in legal transplantation in the area of civil procedure has affected the legislative evolution of law creation, creating mixity in more and more legal systems.

The Legacy of Justice Louis Lebel: The Civilian Tradition and Procedural Law

In his 14 years on the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Justice Louis LeBel has left his... more In his 14 years on the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Justice Louis LeBel has left his mark on many areas of the law, including on a wide array of subject matters that fall within the law of Civil Procedure. As one of three Quebec judges on the Court, he has played a significant role in cases emanating from Quebec, profoundly influencing Quebec private law in general. More particularly, he has had an interesting and important influence in the area of Quebec procedural law because the areas of law that were the subject of many of his decisions, such as discovery in Lac d’Amiante, privilege in Globe and Mail, and class actions in Vivendi Canada, originated in the common law. His judgments, therefore, provide insight not only into the method of applying and interpreting civil procedure in Quebec, but also into the approach to legal transplants more generally. Justice LeBel’s ultimate legacy is the prioritization of the civilian tradition, its codal interpretation and methodological framework.

The Impact of Legal Traditions on Quebec Procedural Law: Lessons from Quebec's New Code of Civil Procedure

The adoption of a new Code of Civil Procedure in Quebec provides an opportune moment to consider ... more The adoption of a new Code of Civil Procedure in Quebec provides an opportune moment to consider the reasons for, and consequences of, a new direction in adjectival law. Moreover, it is an appropriate time to reflect on the influence of legal traditions on civil procedure, and the role played by such traditions in the legislative evolution and judicial interpretation of procedural law. This paper analyzes the current trends in civil procedure in Quebec, from both legislative and judicial standpoints, and seeks to relate these trends to tradition-based influences. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that Quebec’s procedural law has experienced great swings of the pendulum – originally inheriting continental civilian procedure from the French, gradually evolving towards a very common law/adversarial notion of procedure, and now reverting back in a civiliste direction.

The Impact of 'Stateless Law' on Legal Pedagogy

This chapter focuses on an innovative form of legal pedagogy that moves legal education away from... more This chapter focuses on an innovative form of legal pedagogy that moves legal education away from its traditional model, bounded by state normativity, to one that is unbounded, freed from jurisdictional boundaries and integrative of legal traditions and systems. In canvassing the insights gained from breaking the mould of legal nationalism in the classroom, this chapter demonstrates the potential of a pluralistic, multi-systemic, global and, even perhaps, “stateless” concept of law and law teaching for inculcating flexible and creative thinking skills on the part of future jurists.

Religion and the Secular State in Canada

This article reflects the National Report from Canada on Religion and the Secular State prepared ... more This article reflects the National Report from Canada on Religion and the Secular State prepared by the co-authors for the XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law that took place in Washington, D.C., in July 2010. This Report provides a snapshot of the state of the law with respect to religion in Canada from a multitude of perspectives, touching on both its private law and public law dimensions, against the backdrop of the diverse and changing social and religious composition of Canada. The theoretical and constitutional frameworks, as well as important questions of the definition of secularity and the need for reasonable accommodation, are canvassed. Particular applications of religion and the secular state in the arenas of education, marriage and divorce, contracts, religious symbols and hate speech are also discussed.

Overcoming Pedagogical Solitude: The Transformative Power of Discipline-Specific Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs)

This article describes a multi-year Faculty Learning Community (FLC) program as a strategy to ove... more This article describes a multi-year Faculty Learning Community (FLC) program as a strategy to overcome pedagogical solitude (Shulman, 1993) in a discipline-specific context. Participant interviews shed light on their FLC experiences and perceived impact on their teaching and students’ learning. Grounded within the particularities of the disciplinary context and based on the results of interviews reflecting a highly positive experience, we articulate key factors that had a major role in the success of the FLCs, framed within Lee, Hyman and Luginbuhl’s (2007) concept of readiness. We also suggest contextual questions to consider when transferring our experience to other institutional contexts.

Forgotten? The Role of Graduate Legal Education in the Future of the Law Faculty

In this article, the authors argue that the longstanding trend of excluding graduate studies in l... more In this article, the authors argue that the longstanding trend of excluding graduate studies in law from the discourse on legal education has detrimental effects on both the discourse and the future of the law faculty. More specifically, disregarding graduate legal education is at odds with the reality of graduate studies in Canadian law faculties today, ignores the challenges of graduate programs in law, and perpetuates inaccurate distinctions about both the career aspirations of law students and the relationship between undergraduate and graduate legal studies. In the authors’ view, these concerns can be overcome by reframing the discourse. Once the purpose of legal education is understood to be the cultivation of jurists and the law faculty is seen as an integrated whole of people, place, and program, graduate legal education moves easily into the discussion on the future of the law faculty. Including graduate studies in the discourse is an opportunity to explore, and be hopeful about, the institutional missions of law faculties and their place in the university, the optimization of legal education at all levels, and the methods by which participants in graduate studies should fulfill their responsibilities to the future of the discipline.

Transcending Boundaries in Legal Education: A Vehicle for Teaching Students to Think Critically

Legal education has traditionally been defined by many boundaries. Characterized by taxonomic str... more Legal education has traditionally been defined by many boundaries. Characterized by taxonomic structures and doctrinal categories, legal education is, for the most part, still seen as inextricably linked to a particular political geography and state normativity. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the pedagogical benefits of shattering established boundaries in legal education. It will assess how teaching from multiple perspectives in an integrated curriculum inculcates critical thinking skills in students, better enabling them to question assumptions, uncover hidden assumptions, and graduate as independent and innovative legal thinkers. Focusing on the ‘transsystemic’ McGill Law Program, this paper will discuss the rewards of engaging students in an intellectually pluralistic and tradition-neutral legal curriculum, one that eschews silos and borders and focuses on creating agile and creative minds in future jurists who will be able to confront contemporary legal issues holistically and with a critical perspective.

Inside the Judicial Mind: Exploring Judicial Methodology in the Mixed Legal System of Quebec

This article explores the judicial methodology in the mixed legal system of Quebec and examines, ... more This article explores the judicial methodology in the mixed legal system of Quebec and examines, in particular, how the nature of its legal system as a mixed legal system influences the judicial methodology of its judges, especially with respect to the de facto use of precedent. Features of the mixity, including the institutional setting of Quebec courts as courts of inherent jurisdiction, the nature of Quebec’s civil justice system and procedural law, as well as the judicial role and the effect of a supreme precedential authority (in the Supreme Court of Canada).

Contract Law: What Can Jersey Learn from the Quebec Experience?

In this article, the author traces the evolution of Quebec’s civilian legal system, as exemplifie... more In this article, the author traces the evolution of Quebec’s civilian legal system, as exemplified by the enactment of the modern Civil Code of Quebec which came into force in 1994. The Quebec perspective is presented to provide Jersey law reformers and jurists with an interesting, and even inspiring, example of how a jurisdiction that adheres to the civil law tradition in its private law, can successfully adapt and modernize its legal system without abandoning its civilian heritage. While the Quebec experience is not identical to that of Jersey, the similarities between the two jurisdictions ensure its relevance, particularly with respect to contractual obligations. As Jersey grapples with establishing its legal identity, the Quebec experience demonstrates that it is indeed possible to adapt a civilian legal system to one that functions well in the contemporary, economically-friendly environment of modern-day society.

Taking Specific Performance Seriously: Trumping Damages as the Presumptive Remedy for Breach of Contract

In this article, which canvasses the remedy of specific performance from a comparative perspectiv... more In this article, which canvasses the remedy of specific performance from a comparative perspective of both the civil and the common law traditions, the author explores both the theoretical and practical attributes of specific performance, and attempts to meet the objections to this remedy ranging from personal liberty concerns, arguments attributed to economic analysis, problems of imprecision and supervision and practical disadvantages. The author concludes with a proposal for treating the remedy as a presumptive remedy, as do many civilian jurisdictions, subject to some limitations that range from considerations of serious hardship, the good faith principle, and the will of the parties as demonstrated in contractually stipulated “damages only” clauses.

Civil Law and Religion in the Supreme Court of Canada: What Should We Get Out of Bruker V. Marcovitz?

As 2007 came to a close, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its judgment in Bruker v. Marcov... more As 2007 came to a close, the Supreme Court of Canada handed down its judgment in Bruker v. Marcovitz. In doing so, the Court -- in both its majority and dissenting decisions -- found itself grappling with a dynamic mix of religious practices and state norms, family law and constitutional framework, private obligations and public policy. The actual story and its core issue of the overlap between contractual liability and religious law of divorce are not new. But the judgment invites renewed reflection on the entanglement, necessary yet challenging, between obligations articulated in state law on the one hand and religious law on the other.

Transnationalizing the Legal Curriculum: How to Teach What We Live

This article showcases the unique program of legal study at McGill University’s Faculty of Law wh... more This article showcases the unique program of legal study at McGill University’s Faculty of Law which integrates transnational legal perspectives into the legal curriculum and graduates all students with degrees in both Civil and Common Law, taught in a uniquely comparative, bilingual and integrated fashion. By freeing the study of law from traditional jurisdictional or systemic boundaries, the program succeeds in expanding the perspectives on legal education in an attempt to develop more agile legal minds in its students, and more outward-looking and more broadly-trained legal professionals in its graduates. The article canvasses the methodology of McGill’s legal pedagogy but also discusses the challenges of moving toward such an ambitious legal curriculum, how to overcome these challenges and the ultimate rewards of such a program.

Challenging the Existing Paradigm: How to Transnationalize the Legal Curriculum

This article reflects the author’s presentation at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS)... more This article reflects the author’s presentation at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in January 2006 on the panel entitled: “Integrating Transnational Perspectives into the First Year Curriculum: Institutional Support and Approaches to Integration”. The article outlines the unique law program at McGill University’s Faculty of Law that attempts both to integrate legal pedagogy, as well as to transnationalize the legal curriculum, by teaching different legal traditions and pluralistic visions of law within blended courses in a comparative, bilingual and dialogic classroom. The effects on course outlines, teaching plans and evaluations, as well as other challenges and rewards of this program, are canvassed.

Where Law and Pedagogy Meet in the Transsystemic Contracts Classroom

In this article, the author examines how the transsystemic McGill Programme, predicated on a uniq... more In this article, the author examines how the transsystemic McGill Programme, predicated on a uniquely comparative, bilingual, and dialogic theoretical foundation of legal education, operates “on the ground” in a first-year Contractual Obligations classroom. She describes generally how the McGill Programme distinguishes itself from other comparative or interdisciplinary projects in law, through its focus on integration rather than on a sequential comparison, as well as its attempt to link perspectives to mentalities of different traditions. The author concludes with a more detailed study of the area of specific performance as a particular application of a given legal phenomenon in different systemic contexts.

Banque Nationale Du Canada V. Houle (S.C.C.): Implications of an Expanded Doctrine of Abuse of Rights in Civilian Contract Law

The 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Banque Nationale du Canada v. Houle marked an import... more The 1990 Supreme Court of Canada decision in Banque Nationale du Canada v. Houle marked an important moment in the development of the good faith doctrine in the civil law of Quebec. That decision firmly entrenched the doctrine of abuse of rights into Quebec contract law and paved the way for the codification of the good faith principle in article 1375 of the Civil Code of Quebec that came into force after this judgment in 1994. This case comment explores the judgment, both of the lower courts and the Supreme Court of Canada, and discusses the wider implications of the decision in the civil law generally and by way of comparison with the common law.

Non-Pecuniary Damages in Defamation Cases

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Snyder v. The Montreal Gazette (1988) provides an excel... more The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Snyder v. The Montreal Gazette (1988) provides an excellent opportunity to examine the issue of non-pecuniary or moral damages in defamation cases. This article canvasses the evaluation of non-pecuniary damages in defamation cases as well as the question of whether the ceiling on such damages, established by the Andrews Trilogy, ought to be applied in such cases. The author also discusses the availability of alternative remedies including injunctions, retractions and punitive damages.

The Emergence of Specific Performance as a Major Remedy in Quebec Law

In this article, the author examines Specific Performance as a remedy for the breach of contractu... more In this article, the author examines Specific Performance as a remedy for the breach of contractual obligations in Quebec law and applauds recent jurisprudential developments that have applied it as a principal recourse for creditors seeking to enforce even positive contractual obligations to do. These emerging jurisprudential trends are examined in light of historical and comparative perspectives, including the influence of the Common Law in this area, as well as in light of underlying contract theory and traditional arguments often asserted against the remedy.