Professor Bob Howell celebrates a landmark 45 years at UVic Law
October 22, 2025
UVic Law turns 50 this year – and Professor Bob Howell has witnessed 90 percent of its history.
“The most memorable feature of my 45 years at UVic Law is knowing that I made the right decision immigrating to Canada and taking up my position here,” says Howell.
Originally from New Zealand, Howell was a part-time tutor at 樱花影视 University of Wellington and a Teaching Fellow at the University of Illinois in the late ‘70s before interviewing at the fresh-faced UVic Law program.
Professor Howell recalls his then-supervisor in Illinois telling him that 樱花影视 is “one of the finest places in the world to live.” All these years later, he can’t help but agree.
“It is not an easy decision – to change one's country and domicile, especially when there is no threatening reason to do so. Inevitably, a point is reached when it becomes apparent to you that it was a good move or a bad move. Happily, for me it is an affirmative answer.”
Today, he’s the most longstanding faculty member teaching in the Fraser Building. And at 77, he simply defies time.
Professor Howell was an early researcher in the field of Intellectual Property in the 1980s, recognizing its emerging significance long before it became the far-reaching, yet contentious issue it is today. That foresight continues to propel his career and stature. Today, he applies this expertise to contemporary challenges like civil liability issues on emerging artificial intelligence, and Indigenous Peoples’ cultural property.
He still likes the gig, too. Professor Howell has influenced generations of law professionals who have become judges, Kings Counsel and prominent Canadian and international lawyers. It is this influence, plus the energy of his students that keeps him going.
“Interacting with young people keeps me young. I am in contact with many of our graduates, some recent, others further back. Seeing your former students do well is most satisfying.”
Q&A
You started teaching law at UVic in 1980. How has teaching law changed from then until today?
In the beginning, legal education was more closely reflective of legal practice, while still emphasizing that a law degree can be used for many purposes other than practice. A shift to a more policy-focused curriculum has evolved. Practice is still very important, but students can now complete a JD or JID on a much broader basis than they could at an earlier time. Additionally, societal changes have directly impacted our curriculum. The constitutional changes from 1982 with the inclusion of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms brought dramatic change.
What changes have surprised you the most?
It must be the emphasis now placed on Indigenous laws, practices, and sources. UVic’s JD/JID program, the and the newly completed wing of our Fraser Building are testament to the importance of Indigenous perspectives and law, and our national commitment to reconciliation. For me this has opened the door to applying my areas of scholarship and teaching (Intellectual Property and Conflict of Laws) to recognition and legal protection of cultural dimensions of Indigenous Peoples and related provincial, federal and international developments. Central to this is the implementation in Canada and BC of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Perhaps these features have surprised me the most. It is a huge development.
You led the way by focusing on Intellectual Property in the 1980s. What has it been like watching this field evolve completely over four-and-a-half decades?
My interest in Intellectual Property was indeed a fortunate choice. By 1985, indications were already apparent that this subject was about to take off, mirroring the developments in technology and the move of Western societies to services and informational-based economies. The Internet is the primary example. This was a game changer. It immediately elevated the significance of Private International Law. It was no longer enough to think of law as within one jurisdiction. The globalized nature of these areas merged nicely with UVic Law’s strategic focus in the Asia-Pacific region – my interest being primarily in Japan, where I enjoyed several scholarly visits over the years.
What do you consider your most meaningful contribution to the law school or legal community?
Perhaps the most identifiable single feature was the creation of an International Intellectual Property Summer Program, which brought together UVic Law, the University of Illinois College of Law, and St. Peter’s College, Oxford. From 2002 to 2007, the program ran each summer, alternating between 樱花影视 and Oxford. At the time, most Canadian law schools were just starting to build their Intellectual Property programs. We were able to step in early and fill that gap. I still use the comparative law resources from that initiative in my teaching and research today.
Tell us about your research today.
My good fortune continues today. My new significant foci include Artificial Intelligence and Cultural Property; the latter especially centred on Indigenous Peoples in Canada. These areas now focus my research. The Cultural Property dimension coincides with UVic Law’s unique and extensive engagement with Indigenous legal systems. I look at how Canadian federal and provincial systems will interact with Indigenous reconciliation especially in a cultural and Intellectual Property context involving Indigenous, national and international features.
What about your thoughts on AI?
AI will bring enormous benefits along with substantial problems. The focus will be on how to utilize the former and solve the latter. AI has huge significance for the practice of law. The Faculty's is working in this area, and I believe AI will foster stronger connections with legal practice. My particular interest in AI concerns issues of civil liability that will follow upon its wider usage as well as ownership issues in systems, inputs and outputs.
What is your advice to students, and faculty members that want to emulate your career?
For students – be flexible. Your professional work may not be in an area that you currently think you prefer. And for faculty – work hard. Your teaching and research are demanding. But do keep a sense of humour, especially concerning institutional politics.
Finally, what does Bob Howell do outside of the Fraser Building?
Photography and travel. Highlights include the Geographic South Pole and visits to other areas of Antarctica, the Tibetan base camp of Mt Everest, crossing the Taklamakan Desert and Northern and Southern Silk Roads in western China, Africa, the Brazilian Pantanal, a landing at Cape Horn, traversing the North West Passage, and a flight on the Concorde in 2003, the last year of its service between New York and London, on my way to our Summer Program at Oxford.
