Corporations, Individuals, and the State (LAW288H1S)

This seminar examines the implications of the large business corporation for the traditional understanding of public law as concerned with the relationship between individuals and the State.

How do corporations fit into the traditional picture, or do they require its modification? Does the legal personality of corporations entail that the law should generally treat them as if they were individuals? Alternatively, is the law, despite corporations legal personality, concerned in reality with the rights and responsibilities of the individuals behind the corporate veil such as executives, employees and investors? Still another possible approach is to view corporations as powerful institutions in their own right, and perhaps even as analogues of the State, rather than as if they were individuals or mere associations of individuals

We will explore these themes through readings on the following topics, among others:

(1) corporate criminal responsibility,
(2) corporate standing to invoke rights under the Charter,
(3) corporations and the political process,
(4) issues concerning transnational corporations,
(5) delivery of public services by corporations, and
(6) democracy and the internal governance of corporations.