2023 James Merralls Visiting Fellowship in Law Lecture - 22.11.23

Event details

'The Resurgence of Indigenous Law'
Presented by Prof. John Borrows
Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Toronto Law School.

The 2023 James Merralls Visiting Fellowship in Law Public Lecture

In this lecture, Professor Borrows will discuss how Indigenous peoples’ legal principles can generate rich resources for decision-making in contemporary circumstances. They can be reinvigorated, revised or newly created to enhance governance and policy within Indigenous communities and beyond. This can develop community capacity, foster local, state and national leadership, develop business opportunities, and influence policy.

Revitalizing and newly developing Indigenous law can help develop well-being and economic success. Corporations and other commercial actors can also benefit from understanding, applying and incorporating Indigenous law in their agreements and activities with Indigenous peoples. When we see law as something people do, which invites participation, deliberation, persuasion, disagreement, discussion and agreement, this opens space for the revitalization of law and economic opportunities in broader ways.

Prof. John Borrows

Prof. Borrows is the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Toronto Law School. His publications include, Recovering Canada; The Resurgence of Indigenous Law (Donald Smiley Award best book in Canadian Political Science, 2002), Canada’s Indigenous Constitution (Canadian Law and Society Best Book Award 2011), Drawing Out Law: A Spirit’s Guide (2010), Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism ((Donald Smiley Award best book in Canadian Political Science, 2016), The Right Relationship (with Michael Coyle, ed.), Resurgence and Reconciliation (with Michael Asch, Jim Tully, eds.), Law’s Indigenous Ethics (2020 Best subsequent Book Award from Native American and Indigenous Studies Association, 2020 W. Wes Pue Best book award from the Canadian Law and Society Association).

He is the 2017 Killam Prize winner in Social Sciences and the 2019 Molson Prize Winner from the Canada Council for the Arts, the 2020 Governor General’s Innovation Award, and the 2021 Canadian Bar Association President’s Award winner. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020. John is a member of the Chippewa of the Nawash First Nation in Ontario, Canada.

James Merralls Visiting Fellowship in Law Lecture series

Named in honour of the late James Merralls AM KC, an alumnus of Melbourne Law School, who graduated LLB (Hons) in 1958. Mr. Merralls was a resident tutor in law at Trinity College between 1958 and 1972 and was Dean of the College in 1967 and 1968. Mr. Merralls made an enormous contribution to the Australian legal profession over the course of his career. In addition to an illustrious practice at the Victorian Bar, Mr. Merralls was a reporter for the Commonwealth Law Reports between 1960 and 1969 and was the editor from 1969 to 2016. He was publicly commended for his contribution to the Australian legal profession by many of our leading practitioners and judges, including successive Chief Justices of the High Court of Australia. The Australian legal profession owes a large debt of gratitude to Mr. Merralls.