Osgoode’s Summer Program on Governance Through Law

A General View: The Rule of Law

Instructor: François Tanguay-Renaud

This course aims to introduce students to the ideal of the rule of law at both domestic and international levels: its value, limitations, relationship with distinct (related or countervailing) social aspirations, as well as possible costs, benefits, and moral/legal defenses for those who choose to ignore or defy it. The teaching will be based on a core of leading theoretical texts on the subject, comparative domestic and international case law, as well as relevant video documentaries and written journalistic pieces.

The course is divided in six modules, each addressing broad aspects of the rule of law problématique: (1) The meaning and value of the rule of law in stable and transitional societies, (2) the rule of law and emergencies, (3) the rule of law and the obligation to obey the law, (4) the rule of law and international law: the Nuremberg Legacy, (5) the rule of law, corporations, and democracy, and (5) moral and legal defenses for disobedience.

The course has a number of objectives, including to:

1. Shed light upon some salient and fundamental features of the ideal rule of law from a variety of theoretical perspectives;

2. Evaluate claims about the importance of the rule of law forindividual, corporate, collective, and state flourishing;

3. Explore and appraise critically various borderline cases of compliance with/defiance of the rule of law, both domestically and internationally;

4. Identify and assess various interrelations between the rule of law and other common social aspirations;

5. Appraise the extent of one’s obligation to obey the law, and possible moral and legal defenses for disobedience;

6. Allow students to improve their ability to assess and formulate valid and cogent arguments both orally and in writing.

Sovereign Debt

Instructor: Stephanie Ben-Ishai

What happens when countries are unable to pay back the more than $40 trillion they borrow from one another, private creditors and international organizations (“sovereign debt”)? How can creditors make countries repay their debts? Do countries have access to debt discharge/forgiveness or a “fresh start”? What is a bankruptcy fresh start and what are the policy issues behind granting one?

This course provides an introduction to bankruptcy policy and the main issues involved in translating domestic bankruptcy procedures (e.g. US Chapter 11 restructuring proceedings or Canadian CCAA restructurings) to the sovereign context. It considers some of the principles by which domestic bankruptcy procedures operate, and the extent to which they can apply to international lending. To this end, we will consider the alternatives to bankruptcy at both the domestic and sovereign levels, and the issues confronted in cross-border insolvencies. Students will have the opportunity to study the details of recent crises that have made headlines in the Canada and all over the world, such as Greece, Argentina and Ukraine.

The course will appeal to students who are interested in issues affecting the global economy as well as students interested in bankruptcy policy more specifically.