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Études supérieures en
droit de la santé

À propos

La Faculté de droit de l’Université d’Ottawa propose des programmes de maîtrise et de doctorat en droit. Pour les étudiants et étudiantes des cycles supérieurs qui désirent approfondir leurs connaissances en droit de la santé, nous offrons la possibilité de participer à un large éventail de projets de recherche de pointe dirigés par le plus grand regroupement de spécialistes en droit de la santé et nous offrons aussi le plus vaste choix de cours dans ce domaine au Canada. La nature interdisciplinaire du CDPÉS — dont les membres proviennent non seulement du domaine du droit, mais aussi des domaines de la médecine, des sciences de la santé, de la gestion, des sciences sociales et des arts — enrichit l’expérience des étudiants et étudiantes des cycles supérieurs en les exposant à une variété de perspectives méthodologiques et théoriques. Les étudiants et étudiantes ont également la possibilité de multiplier les collaborations de recherches interdisciplinaires et d’opter pour la supervision de leurs projets de recherche par des comités interdisciplinaires.

Nos diplômés et diplômées poursuivent un large éventail de carrières, dans le milieu universitaire, les ministères et agences des gouvernements provinciaux et du gouvernement fédéral, au sein d’ONG et d’organisations internationales, d’entreprises du secteur privé, en pratique privée, au sein d’organismes de réglementation, d’associations de professionnels de la santé, d’associations d’hôpitaux et auprès des compagnies d’assurance. Nombre de ces organisations du domaine de la santé sont établies à Ottawa. Cela étant dit, le fait d’être situé dans la capitale du Canada offre des possibilités inégalées de nouer des contacts avec les décideurs politiques et autres parties prenantes au niveau provincial, national et international.

Nous accueillons les candidatures des quatre coins du Canada et de l’international. Nous offrons également un soutien financier aux personnes dont la candidature a été retenue.

Une expérience particulière

La communauté étudiante des cycles supérieurs est incitée à participer activement aux événements animés du CDPÉS, notamment à notre série de conférences données à l’heure du midi, aux cafés scientifiques dans la communauté et à la conférence nationale/internationale annuelle portant sur une question spécifique de politique de santé (par ex. : l’IA dans les soins de santé, l’aide médicale à mourir et les soins à deux niveaux). Le CDPÉS organise également régulièrement des ateliers en petits groupes portant sur la rédaction de demandes de subventions et sur des domaines d’intérêt relevant du droit de la santé tels que le vieillissement, la technologie, la bioéthique multidisciplinaire, le don/transplantation d’organes et les politiques de santé publique.

Pour les étudiants et étudiantes des cycles supérieurs en particulier, le CDPÉS, en collaboration avec le Groupe de recherche en santé et droit de McGill, organise le Colloque des étudiants diplômés en droit, politiques et éthique de la santé. Cet événement phare donne à nos étudiants et étudiantes l’occasion de présenter leurs travaux de recherche et de recevoir une rétroaction d’un public interdisciplinaire de chercheurs et de décideurs politiques, d’échanger des idées et points de vue, en plus d’offrir des possibilités de réseautage aux participants. Le colloque se tient chaque année à Ottawa et à Montréal, en alternance entre ces deux villes.

Application / Admission

Pour toute information et demande de renseignements concernant la candidature et l'admission aux études supérieures en droit, veuillez consulter la page des études supérieures de la faculté de droit.

The University of Ottawa's Centre for Health Law, Ethics and Policy is a hub for some of the leading health, law and social science scholars in Canada. The Centre is engaged in important interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research, policy leadership and community outreach to address pressing issues in health policy. As a Ph.D. student I've been privileged to collaborate with many of the Centre's excellent scholars and have benefited from exposure to a network of policymakers and academics from around the world engaged in shaping health law and policy. The Centre provides a unique and dynamic learning environment for students, like myself, who are interested in the growing field of health law and policy in Canada.

Robin Whitehead
Ph.D. Candidate

Seuls certains cours sont proposés chaque année.

Pour connaître la disponibilité des cours et obtenir de plus amples informations, veuillez consulter :
Faculté de droit, Section de common law – Moteur de recherche de cours
Faculté de droit, Section de droit civil – Cours

Cours – Common law en anglais

Medical-Legal Problems

CML3375A

Alicia Czarnowski (Vanessa Gruben on sabbatical)

This course will explore a wide range of legal issues arising in health care settings. Traditionally, the physician-patient relationship has been the focus of health law. This course will cover legal issues arising from that relationship such as consent, professional negligence, and the regulation of health professionals. However, relationships and issues at the broader systems level are the subject of increasing legal regulation and health law scholarship. We will address such systems level issues as constitutional claims relating to access to and funding of health care, medical research ethics, and the regulation of pharmaceuticals. We will also discuss a number of selected topics including reproductive health care, mental health law and end-of-life decision-making.

Sexuality, Gender and the Law

CML3181B

Angela Cameron

This seminar will explore issues at the intersection of law, sexuality and gender in Canada. Although the legal production and regulation of sexuality and gender impacts everyone, the class will focus primarily, but not entirely, on its particular impacts on gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, two-spirited and queer (GLBTTQ) people. The class will introduce various theoretical perspectives and will consider the legal construction of gender and sexuality in the judicial decisions, legislation and administrative rules that define and regulate gender and sexuality in Canada.

Law and Psychiatry: Mental Health Law & Neuroethics

CML3379B

Jennifer Chandler

This seminar addresses the legal issues related to mental health, mental disability, and neuroethics in four parts.

(1) Mental health law in Ontario
The laws and procedures of involuntary committal and treatment under provincial mental health legislation, capacity and substitute decision-making. We also consider the intersection of tort law with mental illness.

(2) Mental disorder and criminal law
Mental disorder in the criminal justice context, including findings of fitness to stand trial, findings that a person is not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder, sentencing options, mental health courts and therapeutic jurisprudence.

(3) Human rights and mental disability
Questions of human rights and social justice relating to mental health and mental disability, particularly with respect to discrimination and access to care.

(4) Emerging neuroscience, ethics and the law
This part of the course we consider the future, and look at how advances in the behavioural sciences are even now raising challenging questions for neuroethics and for the law.

Reproductive Rights, Law and Policy

CML4104

Stefanie Carsley

Whether and when to reproduce is an intensely personal decision that significantly impacts one’s health and well-being. This course will explore how Canadian law and policy regulates and responds to human reproduction. It will address a range of topics related to reproductive autonomy, reproductive justice and access to reproductive health services. Topics may include abortion, contraception, sterilization, assisted reproduction, genetics and pregnancy.

Studies in Public Law: Law and Policy of Modern Plagues and Pestilence from Ebola to Obesity

CML4104A

Colleen Flood

At the heart of public health law and policy lies this basic question: to what extent can the state legitimately impinge on individual rights, in its efforts to promote or protect the health of the population? Controversies rage over public health policies such as proposals for a fat tax, banning super-sized portions of sugary or high-fat foods, reducing salt in our diets, elimination of tobacco advertising, GMO labeling, mandatory vaccinations (and alleged links with autism), fluoridation of the water supply, criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, scrutiny of individuals donating blood and ban on the sale thereof, gun control, safe-injection sites, the legalization of recreational marijuana etc. Areas of law engaged include statutory interpretation, criminal law, constitutional law, tort law, privacy law, and administrative law.

Those favouring a restricted role for public health speak of the importance of individual self-reliance, the problem of paternalism and the slippery slope of government intervention(s) that further erode individual liberties. Those in favor focus on improving the population’s health, the cost-effectiveness of deterrence over disease treatment, and the importance of promoting social justice and protecting the vulnerable both within nations and at the global level. In this course we will explore these conflicting views and their grounding in philosophical frameworks (libertarianism, libertarian paternalism, contractarian rights theory, egalitarian liberalism, utilitarianism, and communitarianism) and public health frameworks (police powers, human rights, civic models, harm reduction, precautionary principle, etc) and, in addition, consider the extent to which public health decision-making inculcates evidence about what works and doesn’t work. We will also explore the role of both domestic and international law in the formulation, execution, administration and frustration (through judicial challenge) of public health policy at national and global levels. These issues will be animated through case studies of, for example, different pandemics and communicable diseases, tobacco control and vaping, obesity control, decriminalization and subsequent regulation of recreational marijuana, blood safety, vaccinations, firearms control, and the opioid crisis. Students will develop a robust analytic lens for assessing public health law and policy, and hone their skills at forcefully advocating for or against particular initiatives.

Mental Health Issues and Criminal Law

CML4111A

Individuals suffering from mental disorders have contact with and are impacted by the legal system on a a daily basis. This course examines our perceptions of those suffering from mental disorders and critically assesses how these perceptions influence how the legal system responds to their needs and issues. There will be a review of the historical development of legal procedures and substantive law to address mental health issues. There will be a comprehensive review of the evolution leading to the passage of Part XX.I of the Criminal Code, beginning with the seminal case of Daniel McNaghten. The creation of a civil mental health system in Canada will also be examined. The efficacy of the current Review Board system will be critically examined. The course will focus both on having students acquire substantive knowledge of historical and mental health law, as well as to assess how the mental health and legal systems can most effectively work together.

Food Law

CML4112C

This course provides a basic overview of food law and policy in Canada. In addition to reviewing the primary acts and actors relevant to this area, this course surveys major topics covering all aspects of the food chain, from production to consumption. This will include topics such as agricultural law and policy, food safety, food and health labelling, marketing and advertising, public health, and the practice of food law in Canada.

In particular, we will tackle emerging areas such as food systems and sustainability, the new Food Policy for Canada, food security, food sovereignty and food justice; the social economy of food; the regulation of GMOs and other food innovations; food law and gender, animal welfare and animal rights and Indigenous approaches to food law, as well as the impacts of global pandemics on food systems. Students who have a keen interest in food law and practice will benefit greatly from this course. However, it is also designed for those more interested in the legal system generally who will learn about its workings through the case study of food and can then apply these insights to other areas of law and policy.

The course objectives are to be able to locate, explain and critique:

  • the past, present, and future of food law and policy in Canada
  • the federal, provincial, and municipal laws and regulations governing food
  • major and current areas of debate in the field
  • the relationship between academic, legal, industry, and government perspectives on food law and policy-related issues

They also include developing critical thinking skills and becoming familiar with alternative perspectives.

Cannabis Law

CML4114JA

There have been few changes in Canadian legislation that have had an impact on as many areas of the law as the legalization of cannabis for recreational use. This course, sponsored by Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l., will survey the many areas of the law impacted by this unprecedented change and will examine the regulatory framework of cannabis in Canada in respect of both medical and recreational use, and production. In addition, the course will explore some of the potential legal implications of legalization, including with respect to employment/labour law, property law, immigration law and business law. The course features a variety of guest lecturers and instructors from Perley-Robertson, Hill & McDougall LLP/s.r.l. in addition to a visit to Canopy Growth in Smiths Falls.

Cours – Common law en français

Introduction au droit de la santé

CML3509A

Sonia Ouellet

Ce cours vise à expliquer aux étudiants et étudiantes la structure du système de soins de santé au Canada selon une perspective critique. L’objectif est de fournir un cadre d’analyse solide et des outils utiles pour faire de la recherche et exercer dans le domaine tout en examinant les iniquités inhérentes au système et les questions d’accès. Dans cet optique, le cours traite de plusieurs thèmes : le cadre constitutionnel canadien, la santé des populations, l’assurance santé, l'organisation et la réglementation des professions de la santé, la responsabilité professionnelle et des hôpitaux, la santé publique, la santé mentale, les médicaments, les autochtones et la santé, l’accès pour les groupes défavorisés, et les litiges en matière de santé en vertu de la Charte canadienne.

Les étudiants et étudiantes choisissent et analysent un arrêt ou un thème d’actualité portant sur un sujet qui les intéressent particulièrement et présentent le fruit de leur recherche à la classe. Au cours des années précédentes, les sujets suivants ont été explorés : le contrôle des produits du tabac, le système de sang, la procréation médicalement assistée, le consentement aux soins, l’accès à l’avortement, le régime de santé des réfugiés, l’autonomie décisionnelle en fin de la vie, etc.