The UNB International Law Group (ILG) is a hub for the study of public international law at the University of New Brunswick. Focussed on excellence in research, teaching, and outreach, the ILG draws together academics, students, and visiting scholars dedicated to innovative inquiries into public international law.
The ILG is driven by a dedicated team of four full-time faculty members who have not only shaped the curriculum but also made critical contributions to global legal discourse. Their passion and commitment to international law are central to the ILG’s mission of fostering a vibrant academic community that bridges the gap between theory and practice. This group is supported by a team of student researchers.
Bruno Gélinas -Faucher is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick. Bruno’s teaching and research interests include State responsibility, international human rights, and dispute resolution.
Active in public interest litigation, he has appeared as counsel at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Prior to joining UNB, he worked as a Judicial Fellow to the President of the International Court of Justice and a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada.
David Matyas is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick. David's research focuses on the laws of humanitarian assistance and disaster law. His research draws on mixed-method approaches to put doctrinal analysis in conversation with practitioner perspectives.
His teaching interests include international humanitarian law, public international law, and the law of disasters and emergencies. Prior to joining UNB, David worked as a regional technical advisor for a major humanitarian organization on disaster risk and vulnerability. He also worked as a law clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada.
He has consulted on humanitarian effectiveness and provided advice and research to government on issues related to humanitarian assistance and disasters. David is also an affiliate of The Gregg Centre for the Study of War and Society.
Maria Panezi is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick. Maria’s research focuses on the interaction between national strategies on climate change and World Trade Organization (WTO) law.
Her teaching interests include International Trade Law, Public International Law, Contracts and Globalization and the Law. She has recently been researching and writing on economic opportunities for Indigenous peoples as they appear in Canada’s free trade agreements.
In 2022, Prof. Panezi was included in the EU's list of candidates suitable for appointment as arbitrator and as trade and sustainable development expert in FTA panel proceedings and she is a member of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) panel and appellate panel roster for New Brunswick.
Anne Warner La Forest, K.C. is a full professor in the Faculty of Law at the University of New Brunswick. Anne’s research covers many different areas including property, extradition law, international law, and labour and employment law.
Anne teaches in the areas of property law, international law and international human rights law, comparative law, commercial law, conflict of laws, and feminist jurisprudence. Anne has extensive experience as an arbitrator and adjudicator; she has also acted as a consultant and expert witness on matters relating to human rights, employment, property, and extradition law.
Before coming to law school, Hayley studied the arts in her home of Halifax, Nova Scotia. She received a diploma in Classical Ballet and Dance Pedagogy from the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts in 2020, and in 2023 graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University with a Bachelor of Arts, First-Class Honours in English Literature. At UNB Law, Hayley is the Vice-President Finance of Operations Law Students' Society and works as a Research Assistant for Dr. Maria Panezi.
Originally from Vancouver, BC, Marina earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Human Rights at Concordia University, graduating with Distinction in 2021, before pursuing law at UNB in 2022. At UNB Law, she serves as Co-President of both the Feminist Legal Association and the International Law Society.
Marina has worked as a Research Assistant since her first year of law school, assisting Dr. Kerri Froc in research on feminist constitutionalism, and Professor David Matyas in research on international humanitarian law. Her personal research interests include international human rights law, counterterrorism law, international humanitarian law, and feminist legal theory.
Kathleen is in her third year of the JD program at the University of New Brunswick and has a BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia Okanagan. For the past two year she has chaired the UNB Law chapter of OUTLaw, a club targeted at inclusion, community, and providing resources and information for 2SLGBTQIA+ students and allies.
Kathleen, both in her undergraduate degree and current program, has been involved in multiple research projects including social psychology, positive psychology, and the experiences of women in the judicial system. Outside of academics, Kathleen likes to run, read, crochet, and bake, having recently begun making her own homemade sourdough. Kathleen works as a Research Assistant for Professor David Matyas.
Mackenzie is a JD candidate at UNB Law, and Research Assistant for Professor David Matyas. Interdisciplinary, international work underpins Mackenzie's academic background, earning an Honours Bachelor of Art with High Distinction at the University of Toronto (double majoring in Criminology, Law, & Society and Environmental Management) and a certificate concerning sustainable urban ecosystems at the University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Social Sciences.
Before UNB Law, Mackenzie worked as an English language teacher in Japan. Given his academic and professional backgrounds, Mackenzie has a keen interest in international interdisciplinary fields like international law, maritime law, and energy law.
Born and raised in Fredericton, NB, Kieran earned a Bachelor of Arts in history and environmental studies from Calvin University in Grand Rapids Michigan. He graduated on the Dean’s List in 2020. Kieran’s interest in international law started in high school where he participated in the John Peter Humphreys Model United Nations at Saint Thomas University and continued into his undergrad where he participated for three years in the American Model United Nations hosted by the University of Chicago.
In between undergrad and pursuing law at UNB, he worked for the Canadian Forest Service which involved field work in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, and New Brunswick. In his free time, he spends much of his time outdoors including canoe camping the St. Croix River which forms the international border between New Brunswick and Maine. Kieran works as a research assistant for Professor Maria Panezi.
Professors Panezi, Matyas, and Gelinas-Faucher have an ongoing research project on the relationships between Atlantic Canada and international law.
This project looks at the unique contributions that Atlantic Canada (and Canadians) have made to international law, and the distinct perspectives the Atlantic Canada can offer to international law.
Further, it considers the particular international law issues facing this region, to help improve the policy, practice, and pedagogy of international law in Atlantic Canada.
M. Panezi, “Exploring the Nexus of Environmental Sustainability and International Trade: The Significance of Self-Standing Obligations” in G. Vidigal & K. Claussen, eds, The Sustainability Revolution in International Trade Agreements, (Oxford University Press, 2023).
S. Droege & M. Panezi, “How to Design Border Carbon Adjustments” in M. Jakob, ed, Handbook on Trade Policy and Climate Change, (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022) at pp 16-179 doi: 10.4337/9781839103247.
M. Panezi, “Special and Differential Treatment: The relationship between Environment, Development and Trade” in M. Faure, P. Delimatsis & L. Reins, eds, Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law, (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2021) at pp 775-782. doi: 10.4337/9781785369520.
M. Panezi, “The Complex Landscape of Canadian Indigenous Procurement” in J. Burrows & R. Shwartz, eds, Indigenous Peoples and International Trade – Building Equitable and Inclusive International Trade and Investment Agreements, (Cambridge University Press, 2020) at pp 217-247. doi:10.1017/9781108675321.011.
M. Panezi, “The Climate Change Tent and the Trade Cathedral: Assessing The Relationship Between Environmental Regulations and WTO Law after the Paris Agreement” in N. Craik et al, eds, (Cambridge University Press, 2018) at pp 249-269. doi: 10.1017/9781108526081.
M. Jakob et al (M. Panezi), “How trade policy can support the climate agenda” (2022) 376:6600 Science at pp1401-1403. doi: 10.1126/science.abo4207.
D. Matyas, P. Wills & B. Dewitt, “Imagining Resilient Courts: From Covid to the Future of Canada’s Court System” (2021) 48:1 Canadian Public Policy at pp 186-208. doi:10.3138/cpp.2021-015.
D. Matyas, “Towards a Legal Toolkit for Disaster Resilience & Transformation” (2021) 45:2 Disasters at pp 453-476. doi:10.1111/disa.12430.
M-C. Therrien, S. Usher & D. Matyas, “Enabling Strategies and Impeding Factors to Urban Resilience Implementation: A Scoping Review” (2020) 28:1 Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management at pp 83-102. doi: 10.1111/1468-5973.12283.
M. Pelling, K. O’Brien, & D. Matyas, “Adaption and Transformation” (2015) 133 Climate Change at pp 113-127. doi:10.1007/s10584-014-1303-0.
D. Matyas & M. Pelling, “Positioning Resilience in the Post-2015 Disaster Risk Management Policy Landscape: Integrating Resistance, Persistence and Transformation” (2015) 39:1 Disasters at pp 1-18. doi:10.1111/disa.12107.
D. Matyas, “Humanitarians and their Law(s): An Expanded Inquiry” (n.d.) 26 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 26 (In Press)
D. Matyas, “Humanitarian Corridors in Ukraine: Impasse, Ploy, or Passage of Hope” (8 March 2022).
D. Matyas, “The Tigrayan Conflict and the Laws of Humanitarian Assistance” (20 November 2020).
D. Matyas, “Humanitarian Access in Non-International Armed Conflicts: Can Agency Law Help Remedy the Consent Bottleneck?” (2020) 69:2 Int’l Comp LQ at pp 451-497. doi:10.1017/S0020589320000020.
D. Matyas, “Even the River Has Need of its Tributaries: An exploration of Humanitarian Effectiveness in the Slow-Onset Context of Niger” in F. Espada, ed, The Humanitarian Effectiveness Project: Essays on Humanitarian Effectiveness (Humanitarian Affairs Team & Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, 2016) at pp 55-88.
P. Akhavan, S. Ashraph, B. Barzani & D. Matyas, “What justice for the Yazidi Genocide?: Voices from Below” (2020) 42:1 Hum Rts Q at pp 1-47 doi:10.1353/hrq.2020.0000
B. Gélinas-Faucher, “Is Canada Internationally Responsible for Genocide?” (12 June 2019)
T. Cromwell & B. Gélinas-Faucher, “William Schabas, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and International Human Rights Law” in M. de Guzman & D.M. Amann, eds, Arcs of Global Justice: Essays in Honor of Willian Schabas (Oxford University Press, 2018) at pp 39-56. doi: 10.1093/oso/9780190272654.003.0003.
A. Warner La Forest, “Canada and International Human Rights Law at 150: A Journey in Three Parts” (2018) 69 UNBLJ at pp 233-250.
M. Panezi, “The 2005 Asylum Procedures Directive, Developing the European Asylum Law” (2007) 13:2 Colum J Eur L at p 501.
M. Panezi, “Sovereign Immunity and Violation of Jus Cogens Norms” (2003) 56 RHDI at p 199.
P. Akhavan & D. Matyas, “International Criminal Justice in the Context of Fragile States: The ICC Self-Referral Debate” (2022) 44:2 Hum Rts Q at pp 233-256. doi:10.1353/hrq.2022.0019.
B. Gélinas-Faucher, “Time for Canada to intervene as World Court tackles the Rohingya crisis” (May 15 2020)
B. Gélinas-Faucher, “Election Season at the ICJ: Dawn of a New Era?” (29 July 2020)
K. Abbott, M. Becker & B. Gélinas-Faucher, “Why so secret? The case for public access to Myanmar’s reports on implementation of the ICJ’s provisional measures order” (25 August 2020)
D. Matyas et al, “Beyond the ICC: Repositioning the Core of International Accountability” (16 December 2020)
B. Gélinas-Faucher, “Génocide des Rohingyas : Pourquoi le Canada n’ira pas devant la CIJ” Blogue de la Société Québécoise de Droit International.
Over recent years, the Faculty has strengthened its international law curriculum, adding a variety of specialized courses that address pressing global issues. These courses equip students with the knowledge and skills to navigate the complexities of global legal systems, exploring the legal frameworks that govern international law, trade, and armed conflicts, amongst others.
In the last few years, UNB Law has hosted a number of global experts in international law, including:
Since 2006, UNB Law has co-hosted the annual Atlantic Humanitarian Law Conference with the Canadian Red Cross and Dalhousie University.
CCIL
SQDI: Secretary General, Société québécoise de Droit International (Prof. Bruno Gélinas-Faucher)
ASIL
ESIL: Co-Chair Feminism and International Law (Prof. Maria Panezi)
