We would like to welcome Professor Peter Sankoff to the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. Peter joins the Faculty in July 2012 from the University of Western Ontario, where he taught from 2010 to 2011 as an Associate Professor, teaching courses in Evidence, Criminal Law, and Legal Research & Writing.
Prior to that Peter taught at the University of Auckland in New Zealand, for 10 years from 2001-2010, teaching courses in Evidence, Advanced Criminal Law, and Animals and the Law, as well as an Honours course in Criminal Law and Policy. In addition, Peter has taught as a visiting professor at the University of Western Ontario, University of Ottawa, Haifa University (Israel), and the University of Melbourne. Peter also taught the world's first course in Comparative Animal Protection Law at Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon in 2010.
Peter has received several commendations for his teaching. In 2005, Peter was voted Best Lecturer by students in the Auckland law faculty in two separate student surveys and, in 2011, he was named to the University Student's Council teaching "Honour Roll" by students at the University of Western Ontario.
Before beginning his teaching career, Peter was a law clerk to Madame Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada and subsequently worked as an advisor on constitutional issues for the federal Department of Justice. Peter began studying law at Dalhousie University in 1993, and transferred to the University of Toronto in 1994, completing his law degree (J.D.) in 1996. In 2005, he completed an LL.M at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, Toronto.
Peter is the author or editor of five books, including Manning, Mewett and Sankoff, Criminal Law (4th ed); Sankoff, Witnesses - a treatise on the law of evidence and procedure relating to witnesses, and Animal Law in Australasia: A New Dialogue, the first book ever published in the Southern Hemisphere to focus exclusively on animal law issues. In addition, Peter has published over 25 journal articles in Canada, the United States, India, Australia and New Zealand and has been an invited speaker at conferences worldwide. He is also on the editorial board of the Canadian Criminal Law Review and the Journal of Animal Law (Michigan State).Peter has won recognition for his research including an Early Career Research Excellence Award from the University of Auckland in 2006, and in 2007, he was the co-recipient (with Steven White of Griffith Law School in Queensland) of a prestigious Voiceless grant of $15000 AUD, which helped produce Animal Law in Australasia.
Peter has received recognition for his university and community service. In 2007, he was awarded a Special Commendation for Innovation, received jointly with Karena Lyons, from the Equal Opportunities Office of the University of Auckland for development of the Pasifika Honours Club as part of his role as the Academic Counselor for Pacific Island students.
In 2008, Peter received an Assisi Award in 'recognition of outstanding service to animals in New Zealand'. The award was presented by the New Zealand Companion Animal Council, a respected national umbrella organisation representing a diverse range of animal groups working on issues involving companion animals, including the Auckland SPCA and the New Zealand Veterinary Association.
Peter's current research interests are concentrated in four distinct areas: (1) the way in which government regulation neglects the protection of animals; (2) the continuing development of the "principled revolution" in evidence law, and the way in which the expansion of judicial discretion may be harming the correct adjudication of evidentiary claims; (3) resolving tensions in the operation of the criminal law and wider justice process; and (4) examining the optimal methods of law teaching in the "internet" era. As a dual citizen of Canada and New Zealand, Peter researches and publishes in both jurisdictions.
To read more about Peter's research and his publications, visit www.petersankoff.com