Schulich School of Law
HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA | CANADA B3H 4R2 | +1 (902) 494-3495

Diana Ginn

Associate Professor

B.A. (Mount Allison) 1979; LL.B. (Queen's) 1982; LL.M. (Osgoode Hall) 1986.

Telephone: (902) 494-2798
E-mail: d.ginn@dal.ca

Biography:

Biography: Before joining the Faculty of Law at Dalhousie in 1992, Professor Ginn conducted legal research for the Law Reform Commission of Nova Scotia, and prior to that, worked as legislative counsel (drafting legislation) for the Government of the Northwest Territories.  She has been called to the bar in Ontario, the Northwest Territories and Nova Scotia.

Professor Ginn served on the Nova Scotia Law Reform Commission from 2004-2009, and on the Bar Society of Nova Scotia's Qualifications and Bar Admission Course Committee from 2004-2007. She has also served on the board of the Atlantic School of Theology, and currently volunteers on various committees within the United Church of Canada, and with the Out of the Cold Emergency Shelter in Halifax.

Teaching areas: Over the years, Professor Ginn’s teaching areas have included: property law, administrative law, law and religion, alternative dispute resolution, public law, health law, and women and the law. She has also developed and taught courses in law at Hue University, Hue City, Vietnam and the Atlantic School of Theology, Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Professor Ginn has acted as a coach and examiner in the Negotiations and Conflict Management Programme at Dalhousie, and facilitated seminars on conflict resolution in a variety of settings. 

Professor Ginn was the 1996-97 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Teaching Law, from the Dalhousie Law alumni Association and the Dalhousie Law Students' Society, and the 2004-2005 recipient of the Hanna and Harold Barnett Award in Law for excellence in teaching first-year law, presented by the Dalhousie Law Students' Society.  She received the Class Ring from the graduating class of 2005. 

Research and Writing Professor Ginn’s research and writing interests cover a range of topics, including religion and the law, administrative law, aboriginal title, health care issues and gender issues.

Her current writing projects include articles on  aboriginal self government, and law and religion.  With colleague Professor David Blaikie and a professor from the University of the Philippines Visayas, she is also working on a book on conflict resolution in Asia.

Selected recent publications include:

  • “New Words for Old Problems: The Dunsmuir Era” (2010) 37:3 Advocates’ Quarterly 317
    • “Religious-Based Reasoning by Judges” (co-authored with David Blaikie) (2011) 19:2 Constitutional Forum 53
    • “Book Review: Power Without Law: The Supreme Court of Canada, the Marshall Decision, and the Failure of Judicial Activism, by Alex. M. Cameron”, (2010) 40 Ottawa Law Review
  • The Legal Guide for Religious Institutions (co-authored with David Blaikie), New York: Continuum, 2010);
  • "Religious Institutions", Halsbury's Laws of Canada (LexisNexis Canada Inc. 2009)
  • Legal Guide for Canadian Churches (co-authored with David Blaikie) Novalis Press, 2006;
  • "Religious Discourse in the Public Square" (co-authored with David Blaikie); 15: 1 (2006) Constitutional Forum;
  • “Aboriginal Title and Aquaculture” in Aquaculture Law and Policy (eds: D. Vanderzwaag and Gloria Chao) Routledge, 2006;
  • Four chapters (“Covenants”,  “Incorporeal Hereditaments”, “Fixtures”, “Boundaries”)  in  Anger and Honsberger on Real Property. 3rd ed. (ed: Anne La Forest)  Canada Law Book, 2006;
  • “Aboriginal Title and Oceans Management” in Toward Principled Oceans Governance” (eds: Don Rothwell and David Vanderzwaag) Routledge 2006;
  • “Employment Issues for Dentists” (co-authored with Malcolm Boyle) in Dental Law in Canada, (eds: Jocelyn Downie, Karen McEwan, William MacInnes) Butterworths, 2004;
  • “The Supreme Court of Canada and What it means to be ‘Of Woman Born’” in From Motherhood to Mothering: The Legacy of Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born (ed; Andrea O’Reilly) State University of New York Press, 2004;

Other writing includes:

  • “Can religious and customary law co-exist with a modern constitutional regime?”, presented to the International Development workshop, at the Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference, 2011;
  • “When Rights Collide: balancing religious freedom with equality based on sexual orientation”, presented at the Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference, 2007;
  • Policy Paper on the Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Environmental Disputes.  Delivered to the Nova Scotia Department of Labor Law and the Environment, 2006.
  • Report on Nova Scotia's "Framework for Action Against Family Violence (co-authored with Dean Dawn Russell)  commissioned by the Government of Nova Scotia.

Courses: