Institutes

Health Law Institute

Institutes associated with Dalhousie Law School help students to specialize and conduct scholarly research.

The Health Law Institute is an interdisciplinary institute supported by and serving the Faculties of Law, Medicine, Health Professions and Dentistry. The institute provides teaching services to these four faculties at the undergraduate, graduate and continuing education levels. Institute faculty also supervise graduate and undergraduate law students interested in writing about topics at the intersection of law and health care. Institute faculty run a health law and policy seminar series for students and practitioners from legal and health-care backgrounds. Institute faculty conduct and facilitate research in health law both independently and collaboratively. There are particularly strong research links between the institute and the Department of Bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine. The institute also offers consultation services to various government agencies as well as public interest groups, the private sector, and health care institutions. Service activities include providing expertise to organizations in the public sector and engaging in the policy-making process at local, regional and national levels.

Law and Technology Institute

Dalhousie's Law and Technology Institute was created in response to the realization that lawmakers and legal scholars face a host of challenging and complex questions as the use of new information technologies grows in all sectors of society. The institute fosters interdisciplinary studies with the Faculty of Computer Science and the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie, and with other institutions. Dalhousie Law School offers several courses to students interested in information technology law issues, including Internet law, law and technology, privacy law, and information technology transactions. Students also have the opportunity to conduct advanced research under the supervision of faculty on information technology law issues.

Marine & Environmental Law Institute

The Marine & Environmental Law Institute of Dalhousie Law School draws on a history of over 30 years of research excellence and consultancy and training expertise in ocean governance matters. Its primary researcher, Dr. David VanderZwaag, is the holder of an appointment as a senior Canada Research Chair in Ocean Law & Governance. The institute’s director, associate director and its associates, all of whom are members of the teaching faculty at Dalhousie Law School, teach and carry out scholarly research projects as well as providing independent advisory services to agencies of the United Nations such as ILO, IMO and UNCTAD, international non-governmental organizations such as WWF, IUCN, and regional organizations such as South Pacific Forum Fishery Agency, as well as providing policy advice to government departments and non-governmental organizations in Canada and overseas.