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Jim Phillips

Jim Phillips

  • M.A. (Edinburgh), LL.B., Ph.D. (Dalhousie)
  • Professor of Law, History and Criminology
  • Editor-in-Chief, Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History
  • Email Address: j.phillips@utoronto.ca

Recent & Forthcoming Publications

  • "Manitoba Fisheries v. The Queen: The Origins of Canada's De Facto Expropriation Doctrine," in B. Ziff, E. Tucker, and J, Muir, eds., Canadian Property Law Stories (Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and Irwin Law, forthcoming 2012) (with Jeremy Martin).
  • "Too Many Courts and Too Much Law: The Politics of Judicial Reform in Nova Scotia, 1830-1841," in Law and History Review, forthcoming vol 29, 2011 (with Bradley Miller).
  • "Rethinking 'The Nation' in National Legal History: A Canadian Perspective," in Law and History Review, forthcoming vol 29, 2011 (with Philip Girard).
  • "'Exactions made upon the most distressed part of His Majesty's Subjects:' The Public Debate over Judicial Fees in Nova Scotia in the 1830s," in Pascal Bastien, Donald Fyson, Jean-Philippe Garneau and Thierry Nootens, eds., Justice et espaces publics en Occident de l'Antiquité à nos jours (Rennes: Presses de l'Université de Rennes, forthcoming 2011) (with Bradley Miller).
  • "Why Legal History Matters," Victoria University of Wellington Law Review, Vol. 41, 2010, pp. 293 - 316.
  • "A Certain Malaise: Harrison v. Carswell, Shopping Centre Picketing, and the Limits of the Postwar Settlement," in J. Fudge and E. Tucker, eds., Work on Trial: Canadian Labour Law Struggles (Toronto: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and Irwin Law, 2010), pp. 241-280 (with Philip Girard).
  • Essays in the History of Canadian Law Volume 10: A Tribute to Peter Oliver (Toronto: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History and the University of Toronto Press, 2008) - editor with R. Roy McMurtry and Jack Saywell. Plus two essays in the volume: "Introduction: Peter Oliver and the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History," pp. 1-30, and "High Above The Generality of The People: The Origins of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Circuit," pp. 200-221.
  • "Courts, Communities, and Communication: The Nova Scotia Supreme Court on Circuit, 1816-1850," in H. Foster, A. Buck, and B. Berger, eds., The Grand Experiment: Law and Legal Culture in British Settler Societies (Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press and Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History, 2008), pp. 117-134 (with Philip Girard).

Ongoing & Future Research

Jim Phillips’ research is principally in Canadian legal history, with a particular interest in Canadian criminal justice history. He has also written about the legal history of the US Pacific Northwest region, and Canadian property and trusts law. His current research projects are a history of crime and criminal justice in Nova Scotia, 1749-1867, and a study of the impeachment of the judges of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court in the late eighteenth century. Recent publications are listed above. For a full list of publications go to http://www.law.utoronto.ca and click on "Faculty List and Directory".

Criminology Courses Taught:

  • CRI 3160H. Criminal Justice History.