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Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
International Environmental Law | Sustainable Development | Critical Approaches | Law of the Sea
About
Godwin Dzah is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta. His teaching and research interests focus on public international law, international environmental law, climate change and sustainable development law, law of the sea, law and global corporations, and critical approaches to law. His scholarly works have been published in peer-reviewed law journals and edited collections including the Ocean Yearbook, the African Journal of International and Comparative Law, and the African Human Rights Law Journal.
Prior to joining the Faculty of Law, Professor Dzah was Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, where he taught International Environmental Law. Dzah also completed a United Nations-Nippon Foundation Fellowship at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University and the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Office of Legal Affairs at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. He previously taught and practised law in Ghana.
He consults locally and internationally for government agencies, international organizations, and research institutions in Ghana, across Africa and in Canada on environmental law and law and development. He holds a BA (Political Science) and an LLB (post-first degree law) from the University of Ghana, a Qualifying Certificate in Law from the Ghana School of Law, a Master of Laws degree from the Harvard Law School, and a doctorate in law from the University of British Columbia. He has received several awards including the John Peters Humphrey Fellowship in International Human Rights Law/International Organizations (the Canadian Council on International Law), the Charles Bourne Graduate Scholarship in International Law and the Dean of Law Doctoral Thesis Prize (the University of British Columbia).
Research
Public International Law | International Environmental Law | Climate Law | Sustainable Development Law
Teaching
Corporations Law | Energy Law | International Law and Global Corporations | International Environmental Law
Courses
LAW 451 - Corporations Law
The laws governing corporations including: pre-incorporation matters; the corporation as a legal person; the tortious, criminal, regulatory, and contractual liability of the corporation; fiduciary duties in general and in commercial relationships, especially in the context of directors and officers, corporate social responsibility; corporate management; shareholder rights; and shareholder remedies.
LAW 543 - Energy Law
This course surveys the legal methods by which the major sources of energy in the prairie provinces are produced, transported, and regulated; the ownership of natural resources; the interaction between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples, including the developing role of Indigenous Peoples in resource development; the development of renewable energy in the form of solar and wind power; and emerging sources of energy such as geothermal resources and hydrogen.
LAW 593 - International Environmental Law
The development of international law in the environmental area. Topics to be covered include: customary principles of state responsibility; multilateral environmental treaties; global atmospheric issues; toxic contamination; sustainable development; biodiversity conservation; and international trade implications. It is recommended, but not required, that students enrolled in this course take Public International Law.
LAW 599 - Seminars on Specialized Legal Topics
These seminars will cover specialized topics of emerging importance in the law at a senior level. The particular topic covered would vary dependent on the availability of Faculty with necessary teaching competence, student interest, and the needs of the legal profession. Sections may be offered at an increased rate of fee assessment; refer to the Tuition and Fees page in the University Regulations sections of the Calendar.