Home Research Projects Governance Beyond Borders Publications Discussion Paper - Crossing Borders: Law in a Globalized World Preface

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Along with increased movement of goods, services, people and technologies across borders, recent decades spawned a steadily dawning recognition that certain issues cannot be dealt with by single states. Since 1945, with the end of World War II, many countries have favoured treaty negotiation as the way to deal with cross-border and global issues, and to establish accepted standards of conduct in many areas like human rights, the environment and trade. These developments have encouraged the emergence of new and complex systems of multi-actor, multi-level governance, in which the state and state law, while still occupying prominent roles, are no longer the sole controllers of events.

What does this mean for Canadians? While it is true that different people interpret globalization in different ways, the more important point is that Canadian laws and their application are being put to the test under new and dynamic conditions. The facets of globalization may differ, but it affects law-making and enforcement in one overreaching way: a straining of the democratic principles of transparency, participation and accountability occurs, as states strive to deal with expanding and layered issues that reach far beyond territorial boundaries. In short, our approach to managing laws and policies made in Canada may not have evolved sufficiently to recognize the evergrowing interrelatedness between the domestic and the international.

In this discussion paper, the Law Commission of Canada invites Canadians to participate in a nationwide reflection on law and lawmaking in the context of globalization.

How does one tackle an issue as potentially broad as globalization? It took a great deal of thinking and rethinking to properly capture the issues involved in such a complex topic on which many others are doing important work. The project has evolved greatly since the beginning for the most part due to the number of people who participated at various stages and took the time to provide thoughtful comments.

The Law Commission of Canada is greatly indebted to a few key individuals who had a direct hand in this process. Stephen Clarkson from the University of Toronto and Stepan Wood from Osgoode Hall Law School, who were Law Commission Virtual Scholars in Residence, did a great deal of research and consultation in preparing a key background paper for this project. We are very grateful for their dedication to this topic. Craig Forcese from the University of Ottawa understood the evolution that had occurred in the project and prepared the final draft. We are also indebted to Lisa Keller from Meta4 Creative Communications who provided us with a more accessible plain language version that will serve as the basis for a booklet. The winners of one of our annual Relationships in Transition competitions launched this project with their excellent research papers on Governing for the World. We also want to thank the numerous people who generously provided their comments throughout and those who attended our study panels, roundtables and workshops.

The Law Commission also wants to thank the high school students who participated in the 2005 Roderick A. Macdonald Contest on the topic of Canadians as Citizens of the World and the jury members who helped choose the winners. Throughout this discussion paper, you will find excerpts from the students’ submissions. We especially thank Morgan Harper from Ancaster High School, whose artistic rendition of the project graces the front cover.

As always, the Commissioners are grateful for the work performed by all members of the staff at the Law Commission of Canada. We owe a special thanks to Lorraine Pelot, Senior Research Officer at the Law Commission, who coordinated the project and the preparation of this discussion paper.

The Law Commission’s mandate is to engage Canadians in the renewal of the law. We hope that you will take this opportunity to participate in the democratic process and provide us with your comments: