The biennial public law conference at the University of Cambridge aims to be the pre-eminent forum for the discussion of public law matters in the common law world. The conference brings together academics, judges, practitioners, and doctoral students from a range of public law fields and several common law jurisdictions.
Held last week, the conference program included two members of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, selected to present by a peer-review process. The conference also featured keynote lectures by Chief Justice French of the High Court of Australia, Lord Reed of the United Kingdom Supreme Court, Chief Justice Elias of the New Zealand Supreme Court, and Justice Stratas of Canada's Federal Court of Appeal.
Professor Matthew Lewans presented a paper on the topic of administrative constitutionalism - the idea that administrative officials can play a constructive role in advancing the reach of constitutional values. More specifically, he argued that the jurisprudence of both the Canadian Human Rights Commission and Canadian Human Rights Tribunals concerning the principle of non-discrimination during the 1980s anticipated later developments in the Supreme Court of Canada's equality rights jurisprudence under section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In light of this experience, the expansion of judicial deference to administrative decisions concerning Charter values in cases like Doré v Barreau du Québec and Loyola High School v Quebec might serve to strengthen, rather than weaken, human rights protections in Canada.
Professor Joanna Harrington presented a paper on the working methods of the UN human rights treaty bodies, making the case for a public law inspired approach favouring greater transparency, engagement with all stakeholders, including States, and the giving of reasons for interim as well as final decisions. In recent years, concerns about accountability, transparency, and participation have arisen within various fields of public international law, along with an overarching concern about legitimacy, especially in light of the growth in international institutions that exercise public power. Concluding with a comment about putting the "public" back into public international law, Harrington's work reflects a wider scholarly trend on what has been termed the 'constitutionalization' of international law.
Matthew Lewans is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Alberta. His teaching and research interests concern the interface between administrative law, constitutional law, and jurisprudence. In addition, he is a member of the Board of Directors for the Edmonton Community Legal Centre, a not-for-profit organization that provides free legal services, advice, representation, and education to low-income residents who live in Edmonton.
Joanna Harrington is a Professor of Law at the University of Alberta. She teaches, writes and researches in the fields of international law, constitutional law, and public policy, including the law and practice of international organizations, international human rights law, and international and transnational criminal law. She is a member of the Canadian partnership for 'Strengthening Justice for International Crimes'.