Faculty Profile - Robert E. Hawkins

• About
• Grants / Awards
• Research & Publications
• Courses

Robert Hawkins is a professor of law at the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy and past president and vice-chancellor of the University of Regina. He regularly offers courses in constitutional, administrative and international trade law, governance and negotiation, and is a recipient of numerous teaching awards. Hawkins is an active researcher concentrating in the areas of constitutional law, administrative procedure and judicial review. He has recently published several articles in the Canadian Bar Review including one on various quasi-constitutional methods for “working around” formal constitutional amending procedures to achieve Senate and other reforms. He frequently presents executive training seminars to public servants on negotiation skills.

Professor Hawkins has recently been elected as a Councillor with the Regina City Council.

Download Robert Hawkins' abridged CV. 

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Designations

• Doctor of Canon Law (Honoris Causa), St. John's College, University of Manitoba, 2005
• Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies, Université de Paris I (Panthéon ‑ Sorbonne) , 1988
• Barrister-at-Law and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ontario, Osgoode Hall, (Law Society of Upper Canada), (Toronto), 1981
• Master of Law, Yale University (New Haven), 1979
• Bachelor of Law, University of Toronto, 1978
• Master of Arts (1980) and Bachelor of Arts (1978), Corpus Christi College, Oxford (England)          
• Bachelor of Arts (Honours), St. John's College, University of Manitoba, 1972 

Areas of Interest

• Administrative law (public inquiries, bias, standards of review)
• Constitutional law (crown prerogative and conventions)
• Post-secondary education policy

Recent Grants/Awards

General Awards

• Builder, University of Regina Founders’ Dinner 2011Saskatchewan Centennial Medal, 2006
• Honourary Lifetime Director, Children's Hospital Foundation of Western Ontario, London, 2004
• Queen's National Scholar, Queen's University, 1988 - 1991
• Yale Graduate Fellow Award, 1978
• Canada Council Scholarship, 1978
• Class of 1967 Prize, University of Toronto, 1978
• St. John's College Alumni Association Scholarship , 1969
• Governor General's Medal, Dauphin Collegiate, 1968

Teaching Awards 

• ‘Popular Prof - University of Western Ontario,' "The MacLean's Guide to Canadian Universities, 1999," p. 155 (6 U.W.O. Professors; 3 Canadian Law Professors)
• Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, University of Western Ontario, 1998
• Professor of the Year, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario, 1998
• University Students' Council Teaching Honour Roll, University of Western Ontario, 1996
• Alumni Award for Teaching Excellence, Queen's University (One award per year), 1991

Select Publications

Articles in Refereed Journals

• Hawkins, R.E. 2012.  A Duty to Discuss: The Supreme Court’s Role as Facilitator of Last Resort. (Submitted for publication).
• Hawkins, R.E. 2012.  Absentee and Write-In Ballots: Constitutional and Policy Considerations.  Canadian Parliamentary Review 35(3): 7-15 (9 pages).
• Hawkins, R.E. 2011. Constitutional Workarounds: Senate Reform and Other Examples. Canadian Bar Review 89(3): 513-543 (31 pages).
• Hawkins, R.E. 2010. The Fixed-Date Election Law: Constitutional Convention or Conventional Politics? Constitutional Forum constitutionnel 19(1), 129-135 (7 pages).
• Hawkins, R.E. and The Honourable E.D. Bayda, Q.C. 2010. The Conduct of Public Inquiries: Law, Policy, and Practice (Ratushny), in Canadian Bar Review 88(3): 695-705 (11 pages).
•  Hawkins, R.E. 2009. Wither Judicial Review? Canadian Bar Review 88(3): 603-633 (31 pages).  
• "Reputational Review III:  Delay, Disrepute and Human Rights Commissions" (2000) 25 Queen's L.J. 599-658 (60 pages)
• "Lillian Beynon Thomas, Woman's Suffrage and the Return of Dower to Manitoba," (1999) 27 Man. L. J. (68 pages)
• "Reputational Review II: Administrative Agencies, Print Media and Content Analysis" (with David Shoemaker), (1998) 12 C.J.L.A.P., 1-59 (59 pages)
• "Reputational Review I: Expertise, Bias and Delay," (1998) 21 Dalhousie L.J. 5-48 (43 pages)
• "Dower Abolition in Western Canada: How Law Reform Failed," (1996/97) 24 Man. L. J. 635-663 (28 pages)
• "Behind Closed Doors II: The Operational Problem - Deliberative Secrecy, Statutory Immunity and Testimonial Privilege," (1996) 10 C.J.A.L.P., 39-76 (38 pages)
• "Behind Closed Doors I: The Substantive Problem - Full Boards, Consensus Tables  and Caucus Cabals," (1996) 9 C.J.A.L.P., 267-304 (38 pages)
• Robert E. Hawkins and Robert Martin, "Democracy, Judging and Bertha Wilson," (1995) 41 McGill Law Journal 1-58 (58 pages)
• "Negotiating Settlements in Estates Matters," (1992) 11 Estates and Trusts Journal 371‑391 (21 pages)
• "Interpretivism and Sections 7 & 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms," (1991) 22 Ottawa Law Rev. 275-316 (42 pages)
• "Lac and the Obligation to Bargain in Good Faith," (1990) 15 Queen's L.J. 65‑95 (31 pages)
• "Meech Lake:  The Reality of the Time Limit," (1989) 35 McGill L.J. 196‑205 (10 pages)
• "The Making of a Constitution," 2nd Dean's Conference on Law and Policy (Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, Queen's University: 1989)  85-90  (6 pages)
• Robert E. Hawkins and G.J. Smith, Q.C.,"A Rights Tradition for Canada:  A Framework for Thinking about the Charter", (1982) 1 Advocates' Society Journal 9‑14 and (1983) 2 Advocates' Society Journal 9‑19 (17 pages)
• "In and Of Itself:  Some Thoughts on the Assignment of Property Rights in Nuisance Cases" (1978), 36 U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 209‑221 (13 pages)
• "The limits of Contract Liability:  A Re‑examination of the 'Implied Clause'," (1977), 35 U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 262‑275 (14 pages)

Chapters in Books

• Hawkins, R.E. 2011. Written Reasons and Codified Conventions in Matters of Prorogation and Dissolution [Chapter 7], in The Evolving Canadian Crown, ed. J. Smith and D. Michael Jackson. Kingston: Institute of Intergovernmental Relations, School of Policy Studies, Queen’s University, 2012, 99-116 (17 pages).
• "Negotiation," Chapter 3 in Commercial Dispute Resolution, D. Paul Emond, ed. (Canada Law Book: 1989) 55‑88 (34 pages)
• "Making Section 1 Work," Chapter 7 in Charter of Rights and Administrative Law 1983‑1984, Garry J. Smith, ed. (Carswell Legal Publications: 1983) 123‑133 (11 pages)

Current Courses

• JSGS 801 Governance and Administration
• JSGS 809 Introduction to Law in Public Administration and Policy
• JSGS 835 International Trade
• JSGS 836 Negotiation and Conflict Resolution 
• JSGS 881 Constitutional Law.