Imagine. Engage. Transform.
At Queen’s, research excellence is at the heart of our mission. Legal research is vital to the law, and its impact extends far beyond the academy. It supports the judiciary in their decision-making, guides practitioners in their work, and informs legislators as they shape and reform the law.
Queen’s Law researchers are at the forefront of society’s most challenging legal issues. Our researchers are engaged in research charting the future of legal AI, investigating the role of international trade laws in the wake of tariffs and economic threats, advancing legal responses to conflict and displacement, formulating new health-care law and policy, reforming criminal law, exploring innovative approaches to protecting the environment, advancing Indigenous law and reconciliation in keeping with historic treaties between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples, and examining constitutional dynamics and the rule of law in a rapidly changing world. What unites our scholars’ work is a deep commitment to better understanding the law, to help remedy its shortcomings and build on its strengths.
Read more about our faculty members and research community; glimpse the depth of our scholarly excellence in our QLaw Research Review; and listen to discussions about current legal topics and events on our QLaw Pod.
Professor Cherie Metcalf, Associate Dean, Research
Check out our latest Research News
Conducting world-class research is fundamental to our mission at Queen’s Law. Check out the latest research news our scholars are generating.
Professorships, Appointments, and Awards
Our researchers are recognized through professorships; prestigious research appointments; and national, provincial, municipal, and Queen’s University-based awards and honours. Queen’s Law researchers are Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada and members of the Royal Society’s College of New Scholars, Artists & Scientists; and have been Rhodes, Fulbright, Trudeau, Frank Knox, and Vanier Scholars.
Centres & Institutes
Our centres and institutes help drive our research mission forward in critical areas. Through conferences, research collaborations and partnerships, and publications, and by piloting novel approaches to law and policy, our centres and institutes are making an impact.
• Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace (CLCW)
Enhancing law and policy in the contemporary workplace.
• Conflict Analytics Lab
Research at the frontier of legal AI, law, compliance, and conflict resolution.
Funded Initiatives
Queen’s Law faculty receive funding from all three national research agencies: the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) as well as organizations within the legal profession, such as the Canadian Foundation for Legal Research (CFLR), the Law Commission of Canada (LCC), the Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO), and the Law Society of Ontario (LSO).
Among our funded projects:
- Machine M.D. - Creating a set of policy options for the optimal governance of AI technologies in health care in Canada.
- Institutions & Effective Climate Action - Examining the role of legal institutions in conveying climate risks and advancing fair and effective climate policy.
Publications
Queen’s Law scholars’ work is frequently cited in the courts, helping advance the work of the legal system. Our faculty members have published outstanding books with leading university presses and won prizes for volumes aimed at the profession. Their numerous articles and book chapters appear in leading outlets in Canada and internationally and have received various prizes. See our QLaw Research Review for a summary of our faculty members’ most recent publications.
Publication in leading journals and the writing of influential monographs are hallmarks of scholarly distinction. Queen’s Law is home to two fully refereed law reviews: the Queen’s Law Journal and the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal. Queen’s Law also supports two additional academic journals: the Canadian Journal of Commercial Arbitration and the PKI Global Justice Journal. Learn more about our journals.
Queen’s Law scholars also share their work in Queen’s University’s scholarly commons, QSpace, an open-access repository for scholarship and research produced at Queen's. It offers researchers, faculty, students, and staff a free and secure home to preserve and present their scholarship.
Colloquia
Queen’s Law has a rich tradition of bringing visiting speakers to the Faculty, enriching our research environment through scholarly exchanges. Our researchers and students also participate in field-specific research colloquia led by our faculty experts.
• Colloquium on Tax Law and Policy
Bringing scholars from around the globe to Queen’s Law to share emerging research in tax law and policy.
• Feminist Legal Studies Queen’s and Colloquium
Expanding awareness and development of scholarship in feminist legal studies.
• Political and Legal Thought / Colloquium in Legal and Political Philosophy
More than a quarter of Queen’s Law’s full-time members conduct research primarily or exclusively in this area.
