Photograph: Craig Martin.

Craig Martin

Professor of Law
B.A., Royal Military College of Canada, 1986
LL.M., Osaka University, Graduate School of Law and Politics, 1994
J.D., University of Toronto, 1997
S.J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2010
Contact Information:
785.670.1693 (support staff)

Professor Craig Martin teaches public international law, the law of armed conflict, constitutional law, and professional responsibility. His primary areas of scholarly interest and academic writing are international law, with an emphasis on the use of force and the law of armed conflict, and comparative constitutional law, with a focus on rights and war powers in Anglo-American and Japanese constitutional law. He also writes periodically on these topics in the popular media. He is the Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center.

Professor Martin returned to the academy after several years in the practice of law, completing his doctorate (S.J.D.) at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2010. His research examined the constitutional incorporation of international law principles on the use of force, looking at the Japanese constitution as one example, and developed theoretical arguments for greater constitutional limits on the use of force more generally in constitutional democracies.

After growing up in St. Lucia, West Indies, Professor Martin did his undergraduate work at the Collège Militaire Royal and the Royal Military College of Canada, graduating with a B.A. (Hons.) in history. He served four years as a Naval Officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, during which time he was a watchkeeping and divisional officer in HMCS Preserver, and a public affairs officer in MARCOM HQ and at CFB Halifax. He also spent time as a naval attaché in the Canadian Mission to the United Nations in New York City, where he worked on disarmament issues in the First Committee. Following his service he went to Japan on a Monbushō Scholarship, where he spent close to four years studying Japanese and public law, and conducting research on conflicts between Japan and the U.S. over Japan’s international legal interests in Manchuria in the 1920s. Professor Martin graduated from Osaka University, Graduate School of Law and Politics, with an LL.M.

Upon returning to Canada he studied at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law, where he earned a J.D. Upon being called to the Bar of Ontario and becoming a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, Professor Martin practiced civil litigation for approximately eight years in Toronto, first at Stikeman Elliott LLP and then Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP. He appeared before all levels of court and various administrative tribunals in Ontario, working on corporate-commercial and securities law, tort law, professional malpractice, administrative law, and constitutional law claims. During this time he also taught courses at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, and at Osaka University Graduate School of Law and Politics.

Professor Martin is Co-Director of the International and Comparative Law Center.

Professor Martin's Recommended Reading on Racial Justice:

Teaching Responsibilities
  • Public International Law
  • Law of Armed Conflict
  • Constitutional Law II
  • Professional Responsibility
Support Staff
Kerri Pelton
785.670.1693
Clinic Room 113D