Sarah Burningham

• BCL (Oxford) 
• LLB (Saskatchewan) 

Professor Sarah Burningham is graduate of the University of Saskatchewan. She earned numerous academic awards during her studies, including the Law Society of Saskatchewan’s Gold Medal. She clerked at the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal before being called to the Saskatchewan Bar in 2010. Professor Burningham’s writing has been cited in judicial decisions, including by the Supreme Court of Canada.

Professor Burningham writes primarily in the field of constitutional law, particularly constitutional law and abortion. Her research engages questions that lie at the intersection of constitutional law and judicial and political decision-making, exploring themes like how legal doctrine shapes public opinion and how legal doctrine itself is influenced by political action and circumstances like crisis.

Professor Burningham teaches primarily in the first-year program. She has received recognition for teaching excellence and was named a USask Sustainability Faculty Fellow for 2025-27.

• Constitutional law
• Criminal law

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Burningham, S.A. (2025). Reasoning from Remedy in R. v. Morgentaler. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 36(1): 1-22.

Burningham, S.A. (2023). A Proposal for a Canadian Government Speech Doctrine. Alberta Law Review, 60(4): 955-970.

Burningham, S.A. & James, S. (2022). “Rights Talk”, Abortion, and the Media: Tracking the Evolution of Abortion Discourse in Saskatchewan Newspapers. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, 34(2): 307-330.

Burningham, S.A. (2022). Reflections on COVID and Criminal Law: How Does Judicial Doctrine Function in a Crisis? Alberta Law Review, 59(3): 587-610. 

Burningham, S.A. (2021). The Relevance of Government Practice in Constitutional Decision-Making: A Review of the Supreme Court’s Federalism Jurisprudence. Osgoode Hall Law Journal, 58(1): 109-38. 

Burningham, S.A. (2020). Constitutional Law and Abortion in Saskatchewan: The Freedom of Informed Choice (Abortions) Act. Canadian Journal of Law & Society, 35(1): 69-88. 

Burningham, S.A. (2019). Provincial Jurisdiction over Abortion. Queen’s Law Journal, 45(1): 37-79.

Burningham, S.A. (2015). A Comment on the Court’s Decision to Suspend the Declaration of Invalidity in Carter v Canada. Saskatchewan Law Review, 78(2): 201-207.

Burningham, S.A. (2015). Courts, Challenges, and Cures: Legal Avenues for Patients with Rare Diseases to Challenge Health Care Coverage Decisions. Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, 1(1): 317-350.

Book chapters

Burningham, S.A. Constitutional Hardball and the Saskatchewan First Act. In F. Mathieu, C. Mathieu, & D. Guénette, eds, From Multilateral Failures to Unilateral Successes? New Trends in Formal Constitutional Amendments (forthcoming)

Burningham, S.A. (2019). The Year in Review 2019. In T. Quigley, Procedure in Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd ed, loose-leaf, Carswell, 2005.

Burningham, S.A. (2018). The Year in Review 2018. In T. Quigley, Procedure in Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd ed, loose-leaf, Carswell, 2005.

Burningham, S.A. (2017). The Year in Review 2017. In T. Quigley, Procedure in Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd ed, loose-leaf, Carswell, 2005.

Burningham, S.A. (2016). The Year in Review 2016. In T. Quigley, Procedure in Canadian Criminal Law, 2nd ed, loose-leaf, Carswell, 2005.