For many years Professor Currie taught courses in public international law, tort law, the law governing the use of armed force by states, international humanitarian law, constitutional law, and techniques of legal research and writing. The recipient of several teaching awards (including the Faculty of Law’s 2020 Excellence in Teaching Award), he also designed and delivered courses on the theory and practice of international law for a number of organizations outside the University, including the Canadian Foreign Service Institute and Queen's University's Bader International Studies Centre in the United Kingdom. His research and writing interests have included various aspects of public international law, with a particular emphasis on its interaction with domestic legal systems. He is the author or co-author of several books, including Public International Law, 2nd edition (University of Toronto Press, 2008) and International Law: Doctrine, Practice and Theory, 3rd edition (University of Toronto Press, 2022).
The holder of degrees in astronomy and physics from the University of Toronto and in law from the universities of Ottawa and Cambridge, Professor Currie has been Vice President (Governance) and Secretary of the University of Ottawa; Vice Dean (Academic Affairs) in the Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa; Editor-in-Chief of The Canadian Yearbook of International Law; President of the Canadian Council on International Law; Scholar-in-Residence in the Legal Affairs Bureau of Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (now Global Affairs Canada); Adjunct Research Professor in the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs at Carleton University; and a litigator with a major Canadian law firm, practising in Toronto and Ottawa.
A member of the Bar of Ontario, Professor Currie is currently a Judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.