Natalie Oman, PhD, DJur

Associate Professor
Legal Studies
Faculty of Social Science and Humanities

Dr. Oman's present work falls into two converging streams. The first examines the sources of international law from a legal pluralist perspective, with a focus on the democratizing potential of general principles and customary international law as avenues of inclusion for non-state political communities. The second explores non-state agents’ roles as subjects and makers of specific transnational legal norms, such as the right of free, prior and informed consent and the responsibility to protect. These dual commitments are evident in her published work. For example, in 2015-16 Dr. Oman authored a United Nations report on behalf of the UN Office of the Special Advisers on Genocide Prevention and on the Responsibility to Protect that developed recommendations to prevent atrocity crimes against Indigenous peoples in Latin America. In 2019, she published her book, The Responsibility to Protect in International Law: Philosophical Investigations (Routledge).

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Full biography

Areas of expertise

Human rights International law Global governance Indigenous Legal Issues

Courses

LGLS 2120U
International Law
International Law will introduce students to the key topics of public international law, including sources and subjects of public international law, the law of international treaties, state responsibility, use of force, self-determination, international human rights and international criminal law. The course will examine the functioning of the UN and some regional systems of human rights and international criminal law enforcement, such as the European Court of Human Rights, the International Criminal Court, International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia.
LGLS 2200U
Legal Theory
This course is a general introduction to legal theory. Some of the topics that may be covered include legal positivism, natural justice, critical legal theory, normative theory, sociological theories of law, feminist legal scholarship, legal pluralism and Marxian theories of law. The intention of this course is to give the student an appreciation for the range and power of theoretical perspectives in legal studies.
LGLS 3310U
Indigenous Peoples, Law and the State in Canada
This course is an overview of the evolution of Canadian law as it relates to Aboriginal peoples, including the history of the Indian Act, treaty rights, Aboriginal rights under the Charter, legislative jurisdiction, self-government, and land claims. We will discuss the role of Indigenous traditional jurisprudence in shaping Canadian law, and how law has been and continues to be used as an instrument of oppression against Aboriginal peoples in Canada. International aspects of Indigenous rights and legal claims will be considered.
LGLS 3220U
Philosophy of Law
This course explores the nature of law by examining fundamental legal concepts such as justice, authority, legal rules, and the obligation to obey. Students will learn to critically analyze patterns of legal reasoning and the goals they serve.
LGLS 3430U
International Human Rights Law
This course familiarizes students with major international and regional human rights documents, national implementation of human rights obligations, and the international bodies created to monitor the compliance of state parties to human rights treaties. Among the topics that may be discussed are prohibition of torture in the context of the war on terror, the right to life and the death penalty, human rights and development, as well as various humanitarian and human rights issues arising in conflict situations. In addition, the course considers the role of non-state actors such as international organizations, NGOs and multinational corporations in the human rights process.
LGLS 3230U
Law & Globalization
Law has been traditionally understood as a state-created and state-enforced phenomenon. However, recent developments across the globe challenge this view by drawing our attention to the role played by non-state actors (NGOs, international organizations, corporations, and transnational entities) in generating norms, and implementing international and transnational rules. This evidence suggests that states are ‘disaggregating’ and that their powers and immunities are being redistributed to these non-state actors, which are increasingly becoming centres of authority in their own right. This course will introduce students to theoretical perspectives on law and globalization and will assist them in developing an appreciation for the complexity of regulatory frameworks and patterns in today’s world. Topics may include: state sovereignty and post-conflict reconstruction, economic regulation and international trade, migration, international justice and advocacy, security, and the impact of technological change.
LGLS 4040U
Law & Environment
This course will consider aspects of environmental law in the context of studying legal, theoretical and socio-cultural approaches to the ecology, the environment and environmental protection. This course will analyze legal and socio-cultural conceptions of ecology and the environment, asking how these concepts are constructed and how they are mobilized within law by a range of groups, such as social movements, indigenous peoples, governments, natural resource developers and others. Topics may include analysis of legal environmental doctrine such as environmental assessment regimes; environmental regulation and protection; environmental rights and international approaches in environmental protection.
LGLS 3510U
Censorship & Freedom of Expression
This course examines the legal tensions and social dynamics of censorship and freedom of expression. Some of the substantive areas that may be considered are: pornography, political expression, advertising as expression, and hate. The importance of Charter cases will be analyzed.

Education

Media appearances

Opinio Juris December 31, 1969
Could R2P Justify a No-Fly Zone in the Absence of Security Council Approval?
As the Libyan rebels’ requests for an internationally-enforced no-fly zone have multiplied and regional support has coalesced among the Arab League, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and some members of the African Union, public hand-wringing over the lack of a Security Council resolution to ‘legalize’ such action has intensified. But Security Council authorization under Chapter VII of the UN Charter is not the only available legal basis for military action to close Libyan airspace.
Ontario Tech University December 31, 1969
Should We Remove Sir John A. Macdonald's Name from Ontario Schools?
The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) recently passed a motion calling for school boards to consider renaming schools bearing the name of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada’s founding prime minister. Proponents of the idea feel that stripping Macdonald’s name from public schools would be an act of symbolic decolonization, given Macdonald’s record in establishing residential schools and the Indian Act, starvation of western First Nations as a tactic to push through the Canadian Pacific Railway, and response to the Northwest Rebellion. However, the call for this discussion originated with ETFO — not with the Assembly of First Nations or any other Indigenous organization, and it’s not clear at this point how well it reflects the priorities of most Indigenous Canadians.