Julie Nguyen is the Administrator for the Centre for Constitutional Studies (CCS). In this role, she is responsible for the day-to-day management of operations and finance at the CCS.
Previously, Julie worked at the Bank of Montreal, the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, AHS, and the University of Alberta (U of A). She has held positions within the U of A's Faculty of Medicine as both an accounting assistant and most recently as the Financial Coordinator with the Office of Rural and Regional Health, a role she held for over ten years.
In her spare time, Julie enjoys outdoor activities such as camping and snowboarding.
Dr Richard Mailey is the Director of the Centre for Constitutional Studies (CCS) at the University of Alberta. In his capacity as Director, Richard manages the Centre’s research and public education mandates. This includes serving as Editor-in-Chief for the Centre’s two journals — the Review of Constitutional Studies (co-edited with Professor Han-Ru Zhou) and the Constitutional Forum — and coordinating research projects, public events, and academic conferences.
Richard received his LLB and LLM degrees from the University of Glasgow and completed his PhD at the University of Luxembourg in 2017. He joined the University of Alberta as a postdoc in 2018 before commencing work with the CCS as a Research Associate in 2020. During his time as a Research Associate, Richard produced a documentary podcast series, co-supervised the Centre’s summer student program, worked as an editor for the Centre’s two journals, and produced a report as part of an interdisciplinary project on the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Richard has also taught a range of courses at the Universities of Glasgow, Luxembourg, Trier (Germany), and Alberta, including courses in constitutional law and legal philosophy. More recently, he has been teaching in the U of A’s departments of political science and sociology, where he has taught “Law and Politics” and “Sociology of Law.”
Selected Publications:
“The Role of the Person in Modern Constitutional Law: How State-Inflicted Harms Become Personal” (2022) 87:A Studies in Law, Politics and Society 73.
“Court-Packing in 2021: Pathways to Democratic Legitimacy” (2020) 44 Seattle University Law Review 35.
“An American Jurist in London: Bruce Ackerman’s Proposals for Constitutional Reform in the UK vs. Bruce Ackerman’s Constitutional Theory” (2020) 41 Liverpool Law Review 227.
“The Notwithstanding Clause and the New Populism” (2019) 28:4 Constitutional Forum/Forum Constitutionnel 9.
“Review: Andrew Arato, Post Sovereign Constitution Making: Learning and Legitimacy” (2017) 15:4 The International Journal of Constitutional Law 1226.
Aleena Reitsma, M.S.W., J.D., completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Alberta. Thereafter, she moved to Toronto to undertake a joint Masters of Social Work (MSW) and Juris Doctor (JD). Aleena articled with the Ministry of the Attorney General in Toronto, and then served as a Legal Fellow and Assistant Field Officer with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Ghana (UNHCR). Following her return to Canada, Aleena worked with Legal Aid Saskatchewan (LAS) in Meadow Lake where she indicates she gained a true appreciation for the importance of the Charter.
Aleena brings a wealth of experience and an abundance of enthusiasm to her position with the Centre. She looks forward to engaging with the faculty, the public, and to coordinating the Centre's many education projects.