Public Health Law in Canada: The Role of the State, Law and Human Rights

This course explores the relationship between law and population health, animated by human rights law and public health evidence, with a focus on socio-economically marginalized populations.  A wide array of laws helps to determine the health of populations, so we recognize law as a social determinant of health. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the fundamental role the state plays in assuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.  How can law support equitable health for communities?  In what ways do existing laws impede or promote this aim?  We explore opportunities for legal interventions to support the public’s health, including litigation, law reform, cross-disciplinary partnerships, advocacy and rights-based research.

We will canvass the foundations of public health law, focusing on legal approaches to improving population health and remediating health inequities, and the limits of law, including limits arising out of the Canadian Constitution.  Through diverse topics in public health law we will inquire into the appropriate roles for and limits of state power.  Topics may include: access to harm reduction services in the context of the drug poisoning crisis; vaccination; public mental health law; intersections between the social determinants of health and public health; criminal and public health regulation of HIV exposure; health and justice partnerships; and government powers and accountability in a pandemic.  Course readings will include case law, legal commentary, peer-reviewed public health literature, and policy analysis.  Areas of law engaged include constitutional and human rights law, statutory interpretation, criminal law, international law, tort law, privacy law, and administrative law. Students will explore and critically reflect upon the relevance and utility of various legal responses to contemporary problems affecting the health of populations in Canada.