McGill Law professor François Crépeau named Ordre national du Québec officer

Law professor François Crépeau has been appointed as an officer of the Ordre national du Québec, McGill University Faculty of Law announced.

Founded in 1984, the Ordre national du Québec is the highest distinction awarded by the Quebec government to exceptional individuals who have influenced Quebec’s growth and renown through their achievements, values, and ideals. The persons inducted into the order received the title of knight, officer, or grand officer.

“I am thrilled to see this new recognition of professor Crépeau’s impactful scholarship, and of his contribution towards building a more just global community,” said McGill Law dean Robert Leckey. “His staunch commitment to the timely issue of migrants’ rights strongly exemplifies McGill Law’s dedication to providing legal leadership for global challenges.” 

Crépeau has been a full professor and the holder of the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law at McGill Law since 2008. As the chairholder, he advances the understanding of theoretical and practical dimensions of the adoption of international treaties and customary obligations in domestic law with due regard to the constitutional setting in federal and unitary states.

Crépeau also led the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, where he took part in strengthening transdisciplinary collaboration on the complex social, ethical, political, and philosophical dimensions of human rights. Before joining McGill Law, he was a professor at the Université de Montréal and the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Crépeau served as a United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants for six years. He produced several reports on the detention and labour exploitation of migrants, protection of migrants’ rights at the external borders of the European Union, climate change and migration, global migration governance, and trade agreements and migration. Moreover, he chaired the UN Human Rights Special Procedures coordination committee.

Crépeau had been appointed an officer of the Order of Canada and inducted as a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation. He also received the “Advocatus Emeritus” distinction from the Barreau du Québec.

Crépeau earned his LLB and BCL from McGill University. He also holds master’s and doctoral degrees from Bordeaux University and Pantheon-Sorbonne University.