The Economic Co-Operation Agreement between Canada and ASEAN: Charting a Foreign Investment Course in Southeast Asia

In September 1981 Canada and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed the first economic co-operation agreement between ASEAN and an individual country. The Agreement was indicative of the changing focus in Canadian international economic relations towards the Pacific area. It also underlines Canadian recognition of an important new regional organization whose member countries contain some of the world\u27s fastest growing economies. This 1985 paper examines the Agreement against the international legal framework for economic relations between states, assess its overall effectiveness in that context and explore where new initiatives are still needed

Museums and the Dilemmas of Deaccessioning

One of the most controversial aspects of museum governance has been the practice of deaccessioning, whereby museums sell or otherwise part with possession of objects forming part of their collections. Though such transfers are usually legal, they can sometimes engender heated debate. Much of the controversy surrounding deaccessioning by museums seems to arise from the perception that they are public institutions impressed with the role of protecting and preserving their collections intact for future generations.However, the enormous market prices for certain works of art in recent years have created tempting options for museums to raise funds by selling objects from their collections. This article aims at illustrating the problems institutions face when considering the disposition of objects in their collections. The legal framework that governs such sales will be outlined and the question posed as to whether these existing laws are adequate to address concerns surrounding sales, or whether new laws or other strategies are needed to resolve contentious dispositions

Towards a Defence of Entrapment

In the late 1970s, Canada seemed to have become a centre for allegations involving lawlessness by police officers. Civil rights advocates expressed concern that these revelations had not given rise to the level of public concern and disapprobation that would seem appropriate. Apart from lack of proof in specific instances, the justification for this inertia seemed to be a widespread belief in the fundamental honesty of our law enforcement agencies and a sympathy for the difficulty of the policeman\u27s task. This article discusses the arguments for and against a substantive defence of entrapment. It is submitted that in Canada there is a pressing need for an independent defence which ignores the defendant\u27s predispositions and focuses on the conduct of the police

Totems and Teapots: The Royal British Columbia Museum Corporation

Recent years have seen increased turbulence surrounding the normally placid lives of museums. Many institutions confront difficult financial challenges in the face of dwindling attendance and declining government grants. While the acquisition and display of objects remain major priorities for most museums, many now also seek to redefine and examine their role in relation to their client communities and constituencies. These pressures and changes have sometimes been reflected in debates surrounding controversial exhibitions and have been accompanied by increasing numbers of claims for the return of objects by indigenous peoples, victims of Holocaust-era confiscations, and others. This paper looks at British Columbia’s Museum Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 12, and how it relates to museum codes of ethics, as well as deaccessioning, and the return of First Nations cultural material

Towards a Defence of Entrapment

In the late 1970s, Canada seemed to have become a centre for allegations involving lawlessness by police officers. Civil rights advocates expressed concern that these revelations had not given rise to the level of public concern and disapprobation that would seem appropriate. Apart from lack of proof in specific instances, the justification for this inertia seemed to be a widespread belief in the fundamental honesty of our law enforcement agencies and a sympathy for the difficulty of the policeman\u27s task. This article discusses the arguments for and against a substantive defence of entrapment. It is submitted that in Canada there is a pressing need for an independent defence which ignores the defendant\u27s predispositions and focuses on the conduct of the police

Moving Culture: The Future of National Cultural Property Export Controls

Widespread border controls on the export of cultural property are for the most part a relatively recent phenomenon. Such controls only apply to physical objects that can be moved across national borders, and range from regimes that operate as embargoes on whole categories of tangible property to more selective systems that only limit the export of objects perceived to be significant properties. The United States is notable for being the only important art market country that has never had a comprehensive system of cultural property export controls. Export controls present a number of complex issues in both international and domestic law. This paper discusses the a number of important policy issues that need to be considered when developing, or amending, export control laws

Looking Beyond Intellectual Property in Resolving Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Indigenous Peoples

While modern indigenous artists, and especially collectives, have been able to resort to traditional property rights concerning moveable cultural property, many native peoples have found their claims to ownership of their intangible cultural property, such as motifs, songs, prayers, ceremonies, music, legends and folklore, frustrated by the limits of established intellectual property and other legal regimes. These groups face commoditization and commercialization problems, but are stuck in a catch-22 by rejecting intellectual property regimes but facing the consequence of lost control over their own cultural property. This article evaluates the various claims and desires of indigenous peoples, and others whose needs arguably justify specific legal recognition and protection, against the background of the often conflicting constitutional and social policies that establish the structural framework of modern democratic societies, paying particular attention to the policies underlying intellectual property law and the basic human rights of free speech and free expression. The authors consider the social policy tradeoffs that are involved in recognizing, or not recognizing, intellectual property rights in indigenous cultural property. They conclude that the legitimate concerns of indigenous people can be accommodated without recognizing new intellectual property rights, either through modest reinterpretation of existing legal regimes concerning contract, privacy, and unfair competition law, or through carefully tailored but general statutory amendment or incrementally developed common law principles aimed at leveling what might otherwise be seen as an unfair playing field. Intellectual property rights seem to be an unsatisfactory foundation on which to build a viable cultural heritage legal edifice. Rather than try to fit the justifiable claims of indigenous peoples into legal property-rights categories that were not designed to accommodate their essential characteristics, this article focuses on those aspects of indigenous peoples\u27 claims that can be addressed outside the intellectual property rights regimes of patent and copyright. Traditional concepts of contract, privacy, trade secret, and trademark can go a long way in the desired direction. This approach, however, would not recognize all the claims that have been asserted on behalf of indigenous peoples