Constitutional Roundtable with Professor Alison Young

The David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights’ Constitutional Roundtables are an annual series of lunchtime discussion forums that provide an opportunity to consider developments in Canadian constitutional theory and practice. The Constitutional Roundtable series promotes scholarship and aims to make a meaningful contribution to intellectual discourse about Canadian and comparative constitutional law.

Hai Tran

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Transnational Property Law: Land Taking Conflict in East Asian Postsocialist Countries as The Misapplication of Institutional Reform
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: phuchai.tran@mail.utoronto.ca

Hai Tran is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law. He holds a dear interest in the historical evolution of land law, and property rights in general. His doctoral thesis is the explanation of the unique and turbulent property rights compromise between socialist and free market legal norms in postsocialist East Asia. With his research, he seeks to solve the welfare question for the public regarding land redistribution and de-escalate the new ideological cold war of the 21st century. This is tied to his broader investigation of the developments of legal institutions in developing countries which are often ideologically nonconforming and self-contradicting.

Beyond his academic endeavor at the University of Toronto, he is an active member of social activism. He has been involved with the feminist HeForShe project in Japan; CPRE for the protection of the English countryside; Power For People and Repowering London to campaign for and build the capacity of community energy groups in the U.K.

Education
S.J.D University of Toronto (2023-present)
LL.M. King’s College London, United Kingdom (2021-2022)
LL.B. Nagoya University, Japan (2017-2021)
Awards and Distinctions
Best undergraduate thesis, Nagoya University Graduate School of Law (2021)
JASSO Honors Scholarship for Privately Financed International Student (2020-2021)
Selected Publications
Tran, Phuc Hai. “Vietnam’s Land Law Evolution” East Asia Forum, March 13, 2024. https://eastasiaforum.org/2024/03/14/vietnams-land-law-evolution/.
Research Interests
Civil Law
Comparative Law
Environmental Law
Law and Globalization
Legal History
Political Philosophy and Theory
Property Law
Supervisor
Mariana Mota Prado
Committee Members
Larissa Katz
External links
Academia.edu

Oliver Chan

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Laying the Administrative Foundations for a Constitutional Right to Adequate Housing in Canada
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: oliver.chan@mail.utoronto.ca

Oliver is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, political and legal theory, and comparative legal studies. His thesis explores the interpretation and enforcement of positive rights globally as well as the moral purposes of public law and the administrative state. He argues that the constitutional rights to life and equality place obligations on the state to provide safe and affordable housing. Oliver is a graduate of the combined BCL/JD program at McGill University where he received a Lieutenant Governor's Youth Medal from the Honourable J. Michel Doyon for his high academic standing and his work towards improving access to justice in the greater Montréal community. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Oliver completed an LLM at Queen's University and worked as the Director of Research for a legal information clinic in Montréal.

Education
LLM, Specialization in Political and Legal Thought: Queen’s University (2023)
BCL & JD: McGill University (2022)
BA (First Class Honours) Political Science & Philosophy: McGill University (2018)
Awards and Distinctions
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2023-2024)
Lieutenant Governor of Québec Youth Medal (2022)
Fern Gertrude Kennedy Prize in Jurisprudence (2021)
Allan Neil Assh Memorial Award in Business Associations (2021)
Michael L. Garmaise Prize in Political Science (2018)
Maldoff Family Arts Research Internship Award (2017)
Research Group on Constitutional Studies Student Fellow: Yan P. Lin Centre for the Study of Freedom and Global Orders in the Ancient and Modern Worlds (2016-2019)
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Judicial Decision-Making
Legal Theory
Supervisor
Richard Stacey
Committee Members
Christopher Essert
David Dyzenhaus

Asper Centre Constitutional Roundtable with Professor Michael Beenstock

The David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights’ Constitutional Roundtables are an annual series of lunchtime discussion forums that provide an opportunity to consider developments in Canadian constitutional theory and practice. The Constitutional Roundtable series promotes scholarship and aims to make a meaningful contribution to intellectual discourse about Canadian and comparative constitutional law.

The Asper Centre presents a Constitutional Roundtable with Professor Michael Beenstock on 

Kate Mitchell

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Comparing the Levers of Prison Law Reform in Canada and the United States
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Tel:
236-334-6034
Email: kate.mitchell@mail.utoronto.ca
Education
Master of Laws - University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (2021-2022)
Juris Doctor - Queen's University (2014-2017)
Master of Public Administration - Queen's University (2014-2015)
Bachelor of Arts - Dalhousie University (2011-2014)
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2022-2025)
C. David Naylor University Fellowship (2022-2023)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics Doctoral Fellow in Ethics (2022-2023)
UCLA Dean's Tuition Fellowship (2021-2022)
Torkin Manes LLP Academic Excellence & Community Service Award (2017)
Fred S. Fountain Scholarship (2011-2014)
Lockward Scholarship (2011-2014)
H.C. (Kip) Roberts Scholarship (2014)
Margaret Nicholl Pond Memorial Award (2014)
Professional Affiliations
Member, Law Society of Ontario
Member, Canadian Prison Law Association
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Judicial Decision-Making
Supervisor
David Dyzenhaus
Committee Members

Megan Pfiffer

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Toward a Rights-Based Theory of Substantive Review
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: megan.pfiffer@mail.utoronto.ca

Megan Pfiffer is a doctoral candidate at the Faculty of Law with research interests in public law, and legal, political, and moral philosophy. She is also the managing editor of the University of Toronto Law Journal. Her thesis explores the idea of justification in administrative law and will reframe contemporary debates on substantive review. Megan received her JD from Queen's University where she was awarded the Silver Medal in Law for achieving the second highest academic standing in her graduating class, as well as the Dean's Key Award for best embodying the signature values of Queen's Law. She then articled at a leading Toronto litigation boutique and clerked for Justice Rosalie Abella at the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Megan completed the BCL at the University of Oxford with distinction. 

Education
BCL, University of Oxford (with distinction)
JD, Queen's University
BA (Hons), Queen's University
Awards and Distinctions
Canada Graduate Scholarship - Doctoral (CGS-D) (2023-2026)
University of Toronto Centre for Ethics - Doctoral Fellowship (2022-2023)
Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2022-2023)
The Mary And Louis Anisman Fellowship In Law And Fairness (2022-2023)
Onora O'Neill Prize in Philosophy, Law and Politics (2022)
Faculty of Law and Brasenose College Scholarship for the BCL (2021)
Medal in Law – Second Highest Standing (2019)
Dean's Key Award (2019)
Denis Marshall Contribution Award (2019)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2019)
Christopher Riggs Administrative Law Scholarship (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Administrative Law (2019)
Queen’s Law Prize in Legal and Political Philosophy (2019)
Dean's Gold Scholar Award (2018)
Chief Justice McRuer Essay Prize in Constitutional Law (2018)
Queen’s Law Prize in Law and Poverty (2018)
Dean’s Silver Scholar Award (2017)
Aird & Berlis LLP Student Award for Overall Academic Achievement (2017)
R.W. Leonard Scholarship in Law (2017)
McCarthy Tétrault LLP Scholarship (2017)
David Sabbath Scholarship (2017)
Fasken Martineau DuMoulin Prize in Torts (2017)
Queen’s Law Prize in Constitutional Law (2017)
Queen’s University Entrance Scholarship in Law (2016)
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Research Interests
Administrative Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
Legal Theory
Moral Philosophy
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
David Dyzenhaus
Committee Members
Arthur Ripstein
Mariana Mota Prado

Yukiko Kobayashi Lui

Yukiko, wearing a grey sweater, smiles in a photograph taken in the Jackman Law Building
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Care work, dependence and redistribution in family life and law
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: y.kobayashilui@mail.utoronto.ca

Yukiko is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Law with a collaborative specialization in sexual diversity studies at the Mark S. Bonham Centre. Her research interests are in the law governing families and households and the work that happens within them, and in critical legal and political theories. Her doctoral project is about the law and politics of legal relationship recognition, particularly as related to economic dependence, social assistance, and unwaged work during and after relationships. She is interested in how law and social assistance create and police the borders of 'the family' and what implications this has for the material preconditions that make life possible. She also maintains an interest in the law of Hong Kong. Prior to commencing her doctoral studies, she worked in the non-profit sector and in publishing.

Education
LLM (Distinction), The University of Hong Kong
BA (Hons) in Law, University of Cambridge
Awards and Distinctions
Centre for Ethics Doctoral Fellowship (2023-2024)
Mary H. Beatty Fellowship (2023-2024)
Graduate Fellowship in Women's Rights (2022-2024)
Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence (2015-2018)
Professional Affiliations
Law and Society Association
Canadian Law and Society Association
Other information

Co-organiser, Feminist Legal Theory and the Family conference, hosted at the Institute for Feminist Legal Studies, Osgoode Hall Law School (May 2024)

Organising committee, Sex Salon speaker series, Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies (2023-2024)

Co-organiser, Toronto Law and Political Economy Reading Group (Spring 2023)

 

Research Interests
Comparative Law
Critical Legal Theory
Family Law
Feminist Analysis of Law
Political Philosophy and Theory
Sexuality and the Law
Supervisor
Brenda Cossman
Committee Members
Kerry Rittich
Linda White (Department of Political Science)

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