Craig M. Scott
Visiting Professor
Phone: 217-333-0930
Email: cscott@osgoode.yorku.ca
BA (McGill), BA (Oxford), LLM (London School of Economics), LLB (Dalhousie), of the Bar of Ontario
Courses
Transnational Legal Theory
Professor Scott joined Osgoode Hall Law School in 2000 following a term as a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence and 11 years at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. To date, Professor Scott’s research has been primarily in the fields of public international law and private international law, with a special focus on the place of international human rights law in both of these fields and on the evolution of ‘transnational law’ and associated theories. He has also written on comparative constitutional law, notably in relation to the protection of (so-called) economic, social and cultural rights. Prior to starting his academic career, Professor Scott served as law clerk to the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Brian Dickson. He attended the Universities of Oxford and London on a Rhodes Scholarship. He is editor of Torture as Tort: Comparative Perspectives on the Development of Transnational Human Rights Litigation (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2001), series editor of the Hart Monographs in Transnational and International Law, and convening editor of the new journal Transnational Legal Theory (launching Winter 2010). From 2001 to 2004 Professor Scott was Associate Dean (Research and Graduate Studies). He is currently Director of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security.
Professor Scott has sought to create productive linkages between his academic work and various external commitments, some examples of which follow. He was closely involved in appeals or interventions in the Supreme Court of Canada in three major cases which have dealt with the interface of international law and Canadian law (Pushpanathan, Reference re Secession of Quebec, and Baker). He served as an academic expert for Maher Arar’s legal team at various stages of his civil claim against the government of Canada. Professor Scott was closely involved in the development of aspects of the current South African constitution, beginning with his role advising the African National Congress on these matters while the ANC was still in exile. He has given academic opinions on international law to various governments and international organizations (including the European Union) on issues related to such matters as the law of the sea, territorial claims, and adjudicative procedures. In 1993-94, he advised the government of Bosnia on developing arguments on the limits of the powers of the UN Security Council in a case before the International Court of Justice, as part of a wider legal team. He has also given opinions to various non-governmental organizations and aboriginal government representatives on matters ranging from the legality of economic sanctions on Iraq to inland fisheries jurisdiction to transfer of environmental technology. At present, he is a Steering Committee member of the Council of Advisors of the Sri Lanka Campaign for Peace and Justice (srilankacampaign.org).
