Leah West

Associate Professor

• 5107 Richcraft Hall , Carleton University
• 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6
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Prof. Leah West is on leave for the 2024-25 academic year

Associate Professor of International Affairs
National Security Law, International Humanitarian Law, Cyber Operations

Leah is the co-author with Craig Forcese of National Security Law (Irwin Law, 2021, 2d Ed), and co-editor with Thomas Juneau and Amarnath Amarasingam of Stress Tested: The COVID-19 Pandemic and Canadian National Security (UCP, 2021).   She is also the author of several peer-reviewed articles on legal issues concerning national security, cyber operations and the law of armed conflict. 

Leah is frequently consulted by government agencies such as Public Safety Canada, the Department of Justice, the Communications Security Establishment, and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on national security law and policy matters.  A regular commentator on national security matters for Canadian and international media outlets, she  has testified before the House of Commons, the Senate, and the European Parliament. Leah serves on the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law & Policy and Terrorism and Political Violence, and is a Senior Fellow with the Centre for International Governance Innovation where she co-leads the program on Responsible Use of AI by the Military. In 2024, Leah served on the Research Council of the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions.

Additionally, Leah is counsel with Friedman Mansour LLP, supporting the firm’s criminal, quasi-criminal and administrative law practice. She has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court, the Federal Court of Canada, the Security Intelligence Review Committee and the Supreme Court of Canada. Her academic literature has also been cited by the Supreme Court. She previously served as counsel with the Department of Justice National Security Litigation and Advisory Branch. Before being called to the Ontario Bar in 2016, Leah clerked for the Honourable Justice Mosley of the Federal Court of Canada. Prior to attending law school, Leah served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 10 years as an armoured officer and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2010.

Leah completed her doctorate of juridical science at the University of Toronto. Her dissertation examined the application of constitutional, criminal and international law to online conduct by state intelligence and security agencies, for which she was awarded a Canada Graduate Scholarship to Honour Nelson Mandela. Leah was also the anti-terrorism law fellow at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law from 2015 to 2017 while she completed her Master of Laws. In 2019, she was the sole Canadian chosen to be part of the inaugural Class of McCain Institute National Security & Counterterrorism fellows. Leah also has a Master of Arts in intelligence studies from American Military University, a juris doctorate from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and a B.A. (honours) in politics from the Royal Military College of Canada.

Expertise:

National Security Law, Counterterrorism, Cyber Operations.