Supervised Upper Year Research Projects (SUYRPs) in Animals and the Law (LAW327H1F):
- Tristan Montag, “Paw-Tential Ways to Enhance the Legal Protection of Companion Animals in Ontario in the Context of Wills and Estates” (Fall 2024)
- Katherine Shackleton, “Charter Roadblocks: Assessing the Constitutionality of Transport-Related Ag-Gag” (Fall 2024; Winner of the Lily Rubenstein Prize for an outstanding paper on the protection of fundamental freedoms under Section 2 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms)
- Sian Shin, “Paws in the Law: Reimaging Frameworks for Pet Custody” published in the Canadian Family Law Quarterly (2025) 44 Can Fam L Q 121 (Fall 2024)
- Sheanna Wirasinghe, “Protecting Nonhuman Animals under the Rule of Law” (Fall 2024)
- Daniel Kim, “An Examination of British Columbia’s Amended Family Law Act, Canada’s First Statutory Framework for Resolving Animal Custody Disputes” (Fall 2023)
- Marisa Benjamin, “Animals vs the Plastics Industry: Tracing the Challenges of Protecting Wild Animals From Plastics Pollution” (Fall 2023)
- Nikhil (Nik) Khakhar, “‘You Be the Judge’: A Bifurcated Approach to Proportionality in Animal Cruelty Cases” (Fall 2022)
- Hamza Naim, “Anthropocentrism in Canada: An Insurmountable Challenge” (Fall 2022)
JD/Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Studies
JD students who have written a Supervised Upper Year Paper (SUYRP) in the Animal Law course have also applied to and successfully completed the Faculty of Law’s Certificate in Aboriginal Legal Studies.
Adam Iggers, “Amplified Indigenous Ontologies: Towards a Tactical Resolution of the Tension Between Animal Rights and Indigenous Rights” (Fall 2022) – Winner of the Justin Basinger Memorial Award (2023) with forthcoming publication of his paper in the Indigenous Law Journal
Hannah West, “Salmon, Treaty Rights and Cumulative Effects: How Yahey v. British Columbia could Ground a Novel Legal Argument for the Protection of Salmon” (Fall 2023)
Directed Research Program
Directed Research Papers (DRs) completed with Professor Fernandez:
- Abigail Suissa, “For the Love of Animals: Rebalancing Animal Welfare Against Economic Interests in Family Law, Environmental Law, and Farming Regulations” (2023-2024)
- Amy Wang, “The Rights of Rats (and How They’ve Been Wronged): A Rights-and-Welfare-Based Analysis of the Treatment of Laboratory Rodents” (Fall 2023)
- Deniz Yilmaz, “Horse Relations on Turtle Island: Contact, Colonialism, and Criminalization” (Fall 2021)
- Deniz Yilmaz, “Animal Cruelty from an Abolitionist Perspective: A Case for Transformative Justice” (Winter 2021)
Animal Justice Student Essay Contest
Animal Justice holds an annual Student Animal Law Research Paper Contest, with the winner announced at the Animal Law & Advocacy Conferences which take place in the fall. The 2025-2026 contest is now open. View the submission guidelines here, and submit your entry to the student program lawyer Kip Phillips at kphillips@animaljustice.ca by August 31, 2026.
Prior winners from the Henry. N.R. Jackman Faculty of Law include:
- Katherine Shackelton (First Place, 2025): "Charter Roadblocks: Assessing the Constitutionality of Transport-Related Ag-Gag Restrictions"
Daniel Kim (Third Place, 2025): “An Examination of British Columbia’s Amended Family Law Act, Canada’s First Statutory Framework for Resolving Animal Custody Disputes."