François Larocque
Profile
Full Professor
B.A., summa cum laude, uOttawa, 1997
LL.B., summa cum laude, uOttawa, 2000
Ph.D., University of Cambridge, 2008
Biography
François Larocque studied philosophy before graduating from the common law French program in 2000. He clerked both at the Court of Appeal for Ontario (2000-2001) and at the Supreme Court of Canada (2001-2002), working successively for the Honourable Justices Charron, Borins, Goudge, Labrosse and Arbour.
A Commonwealth Scholar, SSHRC Doctoral Fellow, a Fondation Baxter & Alma Ricard scholar, and Honorary Prince of Wales Scholar, Larocque began his doctoral research in 2002 at the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) under the joint supervision of professors James Crawford and Philip Allott. His thesis examined the jurisdiction of national courts in civil proceedings for serious violations of international law.
Dr. Larocque has published in the areas of philosophy of law, Canadian legal history, civil liability, human rights and international law. He is currently most active in two areas of research:
1. Language Rights in Canada
Professor Larocque holds the Canadian Francophonie Research Chair in Language Rights and Issues since 2018. The Chair's objective is to advance critical thinking on the legal frameworks that protect official language minority and Indigenous communities and to contribute concretely to the development of law in this area. It has two main vocations: research and action.
The Chair's primary mission is to document, analyze, and comment on current legal developments in the area of language rights by studying relevant decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada and other Canadian courts, reports from various language commissioners, bills, and parliamentary proceedings. This approach also takes into account secondary literature related to official language minority communities in a variety of disciplines, including public law, political studies, history, and sociology. In particular, the Chair seeks to forge collaborative relationships with the University of Ottawa's Collège des chaires de recherche sur le monde francophone and with other centers of research excellence working in related fields.
The Chair's second mission is to operationalize its research by actively participating in the development or implementation of constitutional, legislative, and jurisprudential standards governing language rights. For example, the Research Chair participates directly in litigation of national interest relating to language rights in order to present innovative legal arguments to the courts, supported by rigorous and interdisciplinary research. In addition, the Research Chair submits reports and testimony to the official languages committees of the Senate and the House of Commons and is involved with Francophone minority community associations, in particular by facilitating training and supporting them in drafting their political demands to government authorities.
2. Civil Liability for grave breaches of international human rights
Building on his doctoral research, Dr. Larocque remains most interested in the field of transnational human rights litigation, that is, civil actions in the domestic courts of one country in relation to grave human rights violations that occurred in another country. This broad area of concern blurs the conceptual boundaries that once separated international and domestic law on one hand, and public and private law on the other. Specific areas of interest include the development of international torts, universal jurisdiction, the law of State immunity, forum non conveniens, and other prudential considerations. He is the author of "Civil Actions for Uncivilsed Acts" (Irwin Law, 2010) the first Canadian treatise on transnational human rights litigation. In addition to his academic research on the subject, Larocque has intervened as counsel inBouzari v Islamic Republic of Iran (CA Ont), Kazemi v Islamic Republic of Iran (QSC, QCA, SCC), Club Resorts v Van Breda (SCC). Larocque has also testified as an expert witness before the House of Commons Sub-Committee on International Human Rights on issues relating to transnational human rights litigation.
François Larocque was born and raised in Sturgeon Falls, Ontario.
Courses
- Les droits linguistiques au Canada - CML 4519/DRC4731
- Délits civils - CML 1637 C