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Our Doctoral Students

This page is a partial list of our current DCL students. If you are one of our DCL students and wish to have your bio added, please aminata.mboup [at] mcgill.ca (email the webmaster).

Julia Selman Ayetey

Julia Selman AyeteyJulia Selman Ayetey, MPhil (Cantab), BL (England and Wales), DCL Candidate (McGill), was called to the Bar in England and Wales (Middle Temple), and in Ghana where she is a Solicitor & Barrister of the Supreme Court. She is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Julia holds a Master’s degree from the University of Cambridge and is currently a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Air & Space Law, McGill University. She has held academic positions at King’s College London, University of Oxford and the University of Cape Coast in Ghana.

Julia has a longstanding interest in the law and governance mechanisms as applied to science and new technologies. She has been an advisor to the UK government as a former member of the UK National DNA Database Ethics Group.

Her current research examines the relationship between non-state actors, norm-generation, and the making of international space law as well as strategies to avoid space-related disputes.

Selected awards

  • Graduate Dean’s Award (McGill University)
  • Erin J.C. Arsenault Fellowship in Space Governance (McGill University)
  • Nicholas M. Matte Fellowship (McGill University)
  • Teaching Tomorrow’s Prof’s Award (McGill University)
  • Astbury Scholarship, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple (UK)
  • Wakefield Scholarship, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge (UK)

Selected Recent Publications

Journal articles

Book Chapters

  • Julia Selman Ayetey & Harold Ayetey, “Health from Above: Space-Based Healthcare Services in Africa” in Annette Froehlich, ed, Space Fostering African Societies: Developing the African Continent Through Space, Part 1 (Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020) 135.

Op-Eds

 

 

Luisa Castañeda-Quintana - Vanier Scholar

Luisa Castaneda QuintanaLuisa Castañeda-Quintana (luisa.castanedaquintana [at] mail.mcgill.ca (email), LinkedIn) is a DCL candidate at McGill University's Faculty of Law. She is conducting her research under the supervision of Prof. Victor Muniz-Fraticelli, focusing on legal pluralism, extractive industries, resistance, and Indigenous Peoples' identity. Specifically, she analyzes how the Wiwa people's interactions with different normative orders in the context of extractivism have transformed their identity and forged various forms of resistance. In 2021, she received the National Scholarship Vanier awarded by the Social Sciences, Humanities, and Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).

Her main research areas are legal pluralism, legal anthropology, Indigenous Peoples, conservation, extractivism, and judicial activism.

Luisa is a Colombian lawyer specialized in human rights with an emphasis on Indigenous Peoples' rights. She holds a master's degree in Law from the Libre University in Colombia and an LLM in Comparative Law and Economics from the University of Turin and IUC in Italy.

Before her doctoral studies, she gained extensive experience working for international cooperation organizations and civil society. She has been an international consultant at the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations in the Indigenous Peoples Unit, headquarters. She also worked in Colombia with Indigenous Peoples in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta and the Amazon on environmental, territorial management, and governance issues, orienting her work on strategic litigation.

René David-Cooper

René David-CooperRené David-Cooper (rene.david-cooper [at] mail.mcgill.ca (email)) is a doctoral student at the Institute of Air and Space Law. His thesis, written under the supervision of Professor Richard Janda, examines how the inadequacy of safety oversight, funding and aviation infrastructure in northern Canada exposes indigenous people to higher safety risks in air transportation and why this constitutes a form of systemic discrimination.

René holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree from the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill University and a Commercial Pilot’s License (CPL) with 15 years of flight experience. He also holds a Licentiate in Civil Law (LL.L.) and a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from the University of Ottawa.

Before his doctoral studies, René clerked at the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada in 2016-2017. He subsequently worked as a Legal Counsel for the Canadian Transportation Agency in the field of passenger rights and for Global Affairs Canada as an airside operations manager during the G7 meeting in 2018. Until recently, he was an Advisor for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada in the Air Investigations Branch, and he is currently the Editor for the Annals of Air and Space Law at McGill University.

Selected Publications:

  • René David-Cooper, “Pilot Fatigue - A Study on the Effectiveness of Flight and Duty Time Regulations for Professional Pilots in Canada” (2019) Quebec Journal of International Law 117–146.
  • Fitzgerald, Paul P & René David-Cooper, “Corporate Social Responsibility in the Aviation Industry” in Armand de Mestral, Paul P Fitzgerald & Tanveer Ahmad, eds, Sustainable Development, International Aviation and Treaty Implementation Treaty (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018) 312.
  • René David-Cooper, “Protecting the Health and Safety of Pilots: A Critical Analysis of Flight and Duty Time Regulations in Canada” (2016) 41 Annals of Air and Space Law 81–126.
  • René David-Cooper, “Defining Common Law Property Rights—The Ownership Conundrum of Landing Slots Resolved” (2016) 16:1 Issues in Aviation Law and Policy 7–52.
  • René David-Cooper, “The Transition to Safety Management Systems (SMS) in Aviation: Is Canada Deregulating Flight Safety?” (2016) 81:1 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 33–64.
  • René David-Cooper, “Landing Safety Management Systems (SMS) in Aviation: The Implementation of Annex 19 for Commercial Air Carriers in Canada” (2015) 30:1 Annals of Air and Space Law.
  • René David-Cooper, “Implementing Safety Management Systems (SMS) in Canada: Is Flight Safety on a Collision Course with the Forced Disclosure of SMS Data?” (2015) 15:1 Issues in Aviation Law and Policy 77–112.
  • René David-Cooper, “Don’t Drink and Drive, Smoke and Fly: A Clearance for Pilots to Get High?” (2014) 29 Annals of Air and Space Law 555.

Awards

  • 2017 - Constance O’Keefe Aviation Law Writing Award by the International Air Transport Association (IATA)

 

 

Valgerður Guðmundsdóttir

Valgerður GuðmundsdóttirValgerður Guðmundsdóttir is a lawyer and a doctoral student at McGill University‘s Faculty of Law. Her current research focuses on feminist legal theory and its affect on asylum law and policies. She is especially interested in the situation of female asylum seekers in the Nordic countries and Canada. 

Prior to arriving in Montreal, Valgerður completed both her Bachelor and Master's degree in law at the University of Iceland where she focused on different human rights issues and refugee law. Her master thesis focused on the responsibility of European States in extraordinary renditions. Valgerður also studied at the University of Helsinki with an emphasis on Public International Law. Before completing her law degree, Valgerður took a leave from her studies to work for the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Icelandic Mission at the United Nations in New York as a temporary Legal advisor. She mostly worked as the Icelandic representative in the 6th committee (legal issues), assisting with the 3rd (social, humanitarian and cultural issues) when necessary.

After graduating, Valgerður has worked as a lawyer for the Icelandic Ministry of Justice, the Icelandic Immigration and Appeals Board and most recently the Icelandic Directorate of Immigration as one of department heads in the asylum department. She is especially interested in certain aspects regarding feminist legal theory, refugee law, and various other human rights issues.

LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/valgerður-gudmundsdottir-310294195/

Atagün Kejanlioglu

Atagün Mert KejanlıoğluAtagün Mert Kejanlıoğlu is currently a doctoral student in the DCL (Doctor of Civil Law) program at McGill University Faculty of Law. He is writing his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Professor Johanne Poirier. His dissertation is focused on populist challenges to constitutionalism and responses that constitutional theory can develop against these challenges.

After graduating from GaIatasaray University Faculty of Law (Istanbul) in 2013, he obtained his first master’s degree from University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne’s Fundamental Public Law program (Master 2 Recherche Droit Public Fondamental) in 2016 with his dissertation entitled “Le Président de la Republique dans les systèmes politiques turc et français” under the supervision of Prof. Marie-Anne Cohendet. He then graduated from another master’s program in public law at GaIatasaray University in 2017. His thesis focused on freedom of artistic expression in the case law of European Court of Human Rights.

Before starting his doctoral studies at McGill, he had been working as a research and teaching assistant in the constitutional law department at MEF University Faculty of Law (Istanbul) since March 2014. His research interests include comparative constitutional law, constitutional theory and European human rights law.

Yuri Alexander Romaña-Rivas

Yuri AlexanderYuri Alexander Romaña-Rivas  (yuri.romana-rivas [at] mail.mcgill.ca (email), LinkedIn), an Afro-Colombian lawyer, is a current doctoral (Ph.D.) student in the Comparative Law concentration of the Doctor of Civil Law (DCL-Comparative Law) program at McGill's Faculty of Law and an O’Brien Fellow at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. He is also a recipient of the 2022 National Scholarship Vanier awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). 

Yuri holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in International Law and Legal Studies from American University, Washington College of Law in Washington DC, where he studied with a Fulbright Scholarship. He obtained his Law degree (LLB) at the “Diego Luis Córdoba” Technological University of Chocó (U.T.CH) in Colombia. Yuri has significant legal experience in International Human Rights Law and transitional justice mechanisms. Between 2018 and 2021, he worked as a specialized lawyer at the Chamber for Amnesty and Pardon of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) in Colombia, a transitional justice tribunal established in 2018 as a result of the 2016-Peace Agreements between the Colombian Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia- People's Army (Las FARC-EP) to investigate, prosecute and try the most serious crimes committed in the context of the more than 50-year armed conflict in Colombia. Previously, Yuri worked for more than five years as a Human Rights Specialist at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous international human rights body of the Organization of American States (OAS) based in Washington, D.C, where he worked within the Precautionary Measures Mechanism and the Individual Petitions and Cases System. Additionally, Yuri has researched and published on different human rights-related topics such as transitional justice, structural racism, and standards of due process guarantees under International Human Rights Law.        

His doctoral research, under the supervision of Professor René Provost, focuses on the need for transitional justice to address the underlying causes of the disproportionate impacts of armed conflicts on racialized communities by incorporating transformative measures with a racially-conscious approach. 

Education

  • Doctor of Civil Law (DCL), McGill University’s Faculty of Law (2021 – present) 

  • Certificate on Afro-Latin American Studies, Harvard University (Afro-Latin American Research Institute) (2019-2020)  

  • Master of Laws (LLM), American University Washington College of Law (2011-2012) 

  • Bachelor of Laws (LLB), “Diego Luis Córdoba” Technological University of Chocó (U.T.CH) (2005-2009) 

Selected publications 

Book chapters: 

Journal articles: 

Honours & Awards 

  • Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships (Vanier CGS), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) (2022). 

  • John Peters Humphrey Fellowship in International Human Rights or International Organization, Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL) (2022).  

  • O’Brien Fellowship in Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, McGill University (2021). 

  • Recognition as the author of one of the ten best academic articles of the Certificate program on Afro-Latin American Studies. Afro-Latin American Research Institute, Harvard University (2020)  

  • Fulbright Scholarship to pursue Master’s studies in the United States (2011-2012) 

  • Director’s award for leadership and academic performance in the Center for English as a Second Language of the University of Arizona, the United States (2011) 

  • Young Researchers Fellowship of the Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (Colciencias) (2010) 

  • Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship (sponsored by the U.S Embassy to Colombia) for Afro-Colombian students to study academic-level English and to foster leadership skills (2007-2009) 

  • Scholarship, as the best high school student in his high school, toward his University Law degree in Colombia (2004) 

Oana-Maria Stefanescu

Oana-Maria StefanescuOana-Maria Stefanescu is a doctoral candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law. Her dissertation, supervised by Professor Fabien Gélinas, explores cross-citation practices among national and international courts and tribunals, aiming to deconstruct and reinterpret common dogmas about adjudication.

Prior to her doctoral studies, Ms. Stefanescu obtained an LLM from the same institution with a focus on international investment arbitration (2016-2017). She completed her BCL studies at West University of Timisoara, Romania (2012-2016). Her graduation thesis discussed some general trends and divergent aspects in the application of private international law conventions, with emphasis on the interpretation of The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) by domestic courts and arbitral tribunals. Her current research interests include international commercial and investment arbitration, legal theory, and tech law.

Ms. Stefanescu is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, such as the Aubrey Senez Fellowship in Law, the Yves Fortier International Arbitration Graduate Award, Graduate Excellence Awards, and the Graduate Research Enhancement and Travel Award. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is an active member of the McGill community. Ms. Stefanescu currently sits as a Post-Graduate Students' Society (PGSS) representative on several committees. Previously, she was involved in the organization of the 12th Annual Graduate Law Conference and acted as Senior and Executive editor at the McGill Journal of Dispute Resolution.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oanamstefanescu/

 Giusto Amedeo Boccheni

A white man with short brown hair and a suit smiling standing in a dining room.Giusto Amedeo Boccheni (giusto.boccheni [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Email)) is a doctoral student in the Comparative Law Concentration of the Doctor of Civil Law (DCL). He holds an M.S. and an LL.M. in Comparative Law, Economics and Finance from the International University College of Turin (IUC) and a Law degree (Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico in Giurisprudenza) from the Università degli Studi di Torino.

In his formative years, Giusto Amedeo worked on strategic litigation and interdisciplinary counseling with Turin’s Law Clinic on Human Rights and Immigration and served as author and managing editor for the magazine on global politics ‘MSOI thePost’, powered by the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI).

In his research, Giusto Amedeo engages with complex issues at the intersections of critical jurisprudence, comparative constitutionalism, and ecological governance. He is currently studying possible applications of the fiduciary conception of sovereignty to freshwater law and governance in the Columbia and Mekong river basins, focusing in particular on the claims to and against sovereignty raised by and on behalf of Indigenous Peoples, non-present generations, non-human beings, and property-owners.

In parallel with his doctoral thesis, Giusto Amedeo is acting as Graduate Students Representative on McGill Law’s Sustainability Committee and as a member of the 2022 Graduate Law Conference organizing committee.

Honours and Awards

  • 2021-2025 Graduate Excellence Award – McGill University.
  • 2021 Graduated “Cum Laude and Honourable Mention,” Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico in Giurisprudenza – Università degli Studi di Torino.
  • 2019 Graduated “With Distinction,” M.S. in Comparative Law, Economics and Finance – International University College of Turin.
  • 2018 Graduated “With Distinction,” in the LL.M. in Comparative Law, Economics and Finance – International University College of Turin.
  • 2016 Full Scholarship, Merit-Based – Georgetown University Center for Transnational Legal Studies.
  • 2015 Full Scholarship, Merit-Based – 西南学院大学 (Seinan Gakuin University), International Division.
  • 2015 First Place in the Moot Court Competition in Civil Law, “Team Aquilius” –.Università degli Studi di Torino.

Jonathan Brosseau

Jonathan BrosseauJonathan is a PhD Candidate at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and McGill University. His thesis, under the joint supervision of Professors Mathias Audit and Andrea Bjorklund, is on the procedural rules implementing State immunity from execution. He is a graduate from the BCL/LLB Honours program at McGill University and the LLM program at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge. A member of the Quebec Bar (Canada), Jonathan practiced international law for four years in total at the global law firm Freshfields, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, and Canada’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has authored or coauthored more than a dozen scholarly publications on diverse international law topics.

Awards received: 

  • Institut de recherche en droit international et européen de la Sorbonne, Contrat doctoral
  • Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Doctoral Fellowship
  • St Antony’s College, Oxford, Europeaum Scholars Programme
  • Bucerius Law School, 2nd Conference on Investment Law & Arbitration, 2nd best presentation of the conference
  • McGill University, Nappert Prize, 3rd place in international arbitration essay competition
  • University of Cambridge, Volterra Fietta Prize, best grade in international investment law
  • University of Cambridge, Queens’ College, LLM Studentship, entrance scholarship
  • McGill University, Gualtieri-Doran Scholarship and John W Cook Prize, high academic standing
  • McGill University, Patricia Allen Award and Graduating Student Award, outstanding contribution to faculty life
  • St. Gallen University, Leaders of Tomorrow Award, selected in international essay competition

Selected recent publications: 

“A Jurisdictional Framework for Resolving ‘Ethical’ Issues Related to Party Representation: Distinguishing the Procedural from the Deontological” in Andrea K Bjorklund and Andreas R Ziegler, eds, Rule of Law and Procedural Issues of Investment Arbitration (CUP, forthcoming 2023) 

“How Should the World Bank’s Dispute Resolution Services Benefit Affected People and Borrowing States?” in Christina Voigt and Caroline Foster, International Courts versus Compliance Mechanisms (forthcoming 2023)

“Applicable Ethical Framework” in Stefan Kröll, Andrea K Bjorklund, and Franco Ferrari, eds, Cambridge Compendium on International Arbitration (CUP, forthcoming 2022) 

“The Distinction Between Arbitration and Judicial Settlement in International Law: Three Characteristics and Why They Matter for Reforms” in Andrea Biondi and Giorgia Sangiuolo, eds, Beyond TTIP: a new season for EU FTAs? (King’s College London, 2018) 93–105 

“Sources of Inherent Powers” (2018) 6:2 European International Arbitration Review 1–49 (with Andrea K Bjorklund); republished in Franco Ferrari and Friedrich Rosenfeld, eds, Inherent Powers of Arbitrators (Juris 2019) 1–58

“From Canadian Minister to International Arbitrator: The Oral History of Marc Lalonde” (2016) 6:1 Journal of Arbitration and Mediation 73–124

“Les États ne sauraient renoncer aux mesures d’exécution sur leurs biens détenus par les banques centrales en France”, Case comment, Paris Civ 1, 12 mat 2021 (2021) 2021:4 Revue de l’arbitrage 1134-1153

Lingqiao Song

Lingqiao SongComparative legal study of genetic data protection policies in the United States, China, and France

Education

2017.09- Present McGill University, Ph.D. Student

2014.09—2015.09 Master of Law, University of Montreal, International Business Law

2011.09—2014.07 Juris Master, Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS)

Prizes and Scholarships

2021 Lucy Memorial Scholarship Award

2018.09 – 2021 Graduate Excellence Scholarship

2017. 09 Laing Chair in Law GR Fellowship

2017.09 Macdonald Graduate Fellowship

2017.09 Fonds de recherché société et culture

2017. 04 Hong Kong WYNG Foundation 2015. 09 Dean’s Award for Best Overall Academic Achievement, University of Montreal

Publications 

Lingqiao Song, Hanshi Liu et al., Addressing Privacy Concerns in Sharing Viral Sequences and Minimum Contextual Data in a Public Repository During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontier in Genetics (2022), doi: 10.3389/fgene.2021.716541. available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35401651/

Lingqiao Song, Yann Joly, After He Jianku: China's biotechnology regulation reforms, Medical Law International, 2021, https://doi.org/10.1177/0968533221993504

Lingqiao Song, Chinese justice: from the past to the Covid-19 pandemic. Lex Electronica Vol. 26. No. 2 (2021)

José Saldaña Cuba 

José Saldaña Cuba jose.saldana [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Email) 

José Saldaña Cuba is a Peruvian human rights lawyer, currently a doctoral (DCL) student at McGill University. He holds a LLM in Human Rights by University of Notre Dame in Indiana, and a Master’s in Political Science by Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, where he also obtained a Licenciatura in Law. He has been a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (2014 – 2022) and at Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (2022) in courses such as Constitutional Law, Legal Argumentation, Legal Research, among others. 

In recent years, José has developed his career as a human rights lawyer in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San José (Costa Rica, 2019 – 2020) and as a legal counselor in high-level public offices in Peru: The Presidency of the National Congress (2020 – 2021) and the Presidency of the Ministry Council (2022). By drafting judgements in contentious cases and designing public policies with human rights perspectives, he has acquired expertise in legal analysis within the judiciary, the legislative and the executive branch. As an activist, he has worked extensively with indigenous and grassroots organizations affected by extractive activities, by organizing human rights training and legal empowerment workshops in diverse territories in Peru, which continues to be one of his major objectives in life. 

He conducts his doctoral research on indigenous legal resistance against extractive activities in the Southern Mining Corridor in Peru, under the supervision of Professor Sébastien Jodoin. In this participatory research, he analyzes the impacts of mining in environmental and indigenous rights, the capacity of international law to provide solutions to human rights abuses and he evaluates the potential contribution of Peruvian indigenous legal institutions to a further understanding of global environmental justice. 

Book

Derechos humanos ambientales y actividades extractivas: Los impactos de la minería en el Perú. [Environmental human rights and extractive activities: Impacts of mining in Peru.] Valencia: Pireo Editorial, 2022. Available: https://pireoeditorial.com/wp-content/ebooks/A011.pdf  

Book chapter & Journal articles

Aproximaciones críticas al derecho a la protesta social en la jurisprudencia de la Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos [Critical perspectives on the Right to Protest in the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights] in Anuario del Centro de Investigación, Capacitación y Asesoría Jurídica PUCP, 2019: pp. 389-420. Available: http://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/169808 

Discursos criminalizadores sobre la otredad indígena en medios de comunicación escrita durante el Baguazo [Criminalizing Discourses of Indigenous Otherness on Print Media during the Baguazo Conflict], in Anuario del Centro de Investigación, Capacitación y Asesoría Jurídica PUCP, 2018: 145–180. Co-author: Julio Salazar Delgado. Available: https://repositorio.pucp.edu.pe/index/handle/123456789/126795  

La violencia de las leyes: El uso de la fuerza y la criminalización de protesta socioambientales en el Perú [The Violence in Laws: The Use of Force and the Criminalization of Socio-Environmental protests in Peru] in Revista Derecho PUCP Nº 79, 2017: 311–352. Co-author: Jorge Portocarrero Salcedo. Available: http://revistas.pucp.edu.pe/index.php/derechopucp/article/view/19329  

La violencia del derecho a través de la criminalización de las protestas contra el proyecto minero Conga [The Violence of Law trough Criminalization of Protests against the Conga Mining Project], in Interdisciplinary Journal of Papers on the Americas Nº 9, 2016. Available: http://www.revue-rita.com/dossier9/la-violencia-del-derecho-a-traves-de-la-criminalizacion-de-las-protestas-contra-el-proyecto-minas-conga.html  

El valor jurídico-político de los votos singulares en el Tribunal Constitucional del Perú [The Political and Legal Value of Dissenting Opinions in the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru.] Lima: Thomson Reuters, 2012. 

Laura Baron-Mendoza 

Non-state armed actors as creators of normative orders. Case study: Colombia 

Laura Baron-Mendoza A Colombian lawyer trained at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Laura Baron-Mendoza specializes in conflict resolution. She holds an LLM in International Humanitarian Law from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. 

She has been involved with international and national entities throughout her professional career. Previously, she was the legal coordinator at Avocats Sans Frontières Canada (ASFC) and served as a consultant for the High Commissioner for Peace in Colombia during the peace talks between the government and the FARC-EP. In December 2021, she joined MADRE as a human rights advocacy officer.

She has published for the Colombian journal El Espectador - Colombia2020, commenting on the non-international armed conflict and the concomitant Transitional Justice system created by the Habana Peace Agreement of 2016. 

As a DCL candidate and O’Brien Fellow, her research is focused on the socio-legal challenges posed by the coexistence of normative orders in contexts of ongoing armed violence. This subject derives from her work with former members of non-State armed groups in Colombia, mainly in the Urabá antioqueño Region (North-west of Colombia). 

Marie-Andrée Plante 

Marie-Andrée PlanteThe Figure of the Victim in Contemporary Canadian Legal Discourses 

marie-andree.plante [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Marie-Andrée Plante) is a doctoral student at McGill University since 2017. She holds a double degree in civil law and common law from McGill University, a master’s degree from Oxford University as well as another master’s degree in legal theory from the École normale supérieure de Paris, the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Université Paris Nanterre.  

Her doctoral research, under the supervision of Mark Antaki, deals with the construction of the figure of the victim. Adopting a transversal approach, her thesis examines how the victim manifests itself in contemporary Canadian and Québec legal discourses, including in criminal law, torts, social law, restorative justice and even family law. Her thesis posits that the victim is now part of an individualizing discourse of the law, in which the victim is less and less framed as a vulnerable subject, but is increasingly portrayed as an autonomous agent. It also questions the effects of such individualization of the victim in relation to the underlying power relations that lead to victimization in the first place. 

In parallel with her doctoral studies, she is the coordinator of the Groupe de recherche sur les humanités juridiques. From 2016 to 2017, she was the assistant director of the Paul-André Crépeau Centre for Private and Comparative Law. She also worked as a law clerk at the Québec Court of Appeal from 2015 to 2016.  

Her research interests include legal theory, legal epistemology and methodology, constitutional law, feminist theories of law, domestic and sexual violence, animal law and legal education.

She was called to the Québec Bar in 2015.  

Education 

Doctor of Civil Law (D.C.L.) – McGill University (2017-) 

Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.) – Oxford University (2019) 

Master’s Degree in Legal Theory (Master 2 Recherche) – École normale supérieure, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales & Université Paris Nanterre (2014) 

Bachelor of Civil Law and Bachelor of Laws (B.C.L./LL.B.) (Honours) (2012) 

Selected Awards 

  • Donner Canadian Law Foundation Scholarship, Wadham College, Oxford University (2018-2019) 
  • SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship (2017-2021) 
  • FRQSC Doctoral Research Scholarship (2017-2020, declined) 
  • Macdonald Graduate Fellowship, McGill University (2017-2020) 
  • Francis Reginald Scott - Public & Constitutional Law Graduate Award, McGill University (2017) 
  • Bourse de maîtrise, École normale supérieure de Paris (2012-2014) 

Selected Recent Publications 

Edited Volumes 

Mark Antaki, Marie-Andrée Plante & Alexandra Popovici, eds., Les lieux du droit, special number (2021) Revue de droit de l’Université de Sherbrooke [to be published]. 

Yaëll Emerich & Marie-Andrée Plante, eds., Repenser les paradigmes : Approches transsystémiques du droit (Montréal: Yvon Blais, 2018). 

Journal Articles and Book Chapters 

Michaël Lessard & Marie-Andrée Plante, “Where the Wild Things Are (and Have Been): An Archeology of Legal Discourses on Animals in Québec” [under review]. 

Léa-Brière Godbout & Marie-Andrée Plante, “Religious Challenges to Anti-Discrimination Law: The Mobilization of the ‘Minority Label’” (2020) 66:2 McGill Law Journal 377. 

Mark Antaki & Marie-Andrée Plante, “Comment enseigner Foucault aujourd’hui aux juristes ?” in Jacqueline Guittard & Emeric Nicolas, eds., Foucault face à la Norme (Paris: Mare & Martin, 2020). 

LinkedIn  

Marie-Pier Baril

Marie-Pier BarilExercer sa discrétion dans le meilleur intérêt d'autrui : regards sur la fiducie québécoise dans une perspective comparée inspirée de la théorie des pouvoirs privés

Marie-Pier Baril est avocate et étudiante au doctorat en droit. Après plus de douze ans de pratique en cabinet, elle a choisi de poursuivre des recherches portant sur l'exercice du pouvoir discrétionnaire. Passionnée du droit civil, elle s'intéresse notamment à l'administration du bien d'autrui et à la prise de décision au bénéfice d'un tiers.

Son projet de thèse vise plus spécifiquement à mieux définir comment les fiduciaires de fiducies constituées en vertu du droit québécois doivent assurer, dans l'exercice de leurs pouvoirs discrétionnaires, le "meilleur intérêt" de cet "autrui" que le droit positif connaît mal et qui est fréquemment identifié par un constituant externe au projet constitutif. Marie-Pier approche les questions de recherche dans une perspective comparée entre le droit civil et la common law et pose un regard sur le droit qui est conscient des considérations fiscales inhérentes à la pratique.

Education

LL.M., Université Laval (2021)

Barreau du Québec (2009)

LL.B. régime coopératif, Université de Sherbrooke (2008)

Awards received

  • Bourse Joseph-Armand-Bombardier du conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (2021)
  • Bourse du Fonds de recherche du Québec: Société et Culture (2021) - déclinée
  • Bourse de conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (2019)
  • Bourse du Fonds de recherche du Québec: Société et Culture (2019) - déclinée
  • Bourse de rédaction de la Faculté de droit de l’Université Laval – maîtrise avec mémoire (2019)
  • Bourse de rédaction du Fonds Jacques-Deslauriers en droit civil – maîtrise avec mémoire (2019)
  • Bourse d’excellence à l’admission de la Faculté de droit – maîtrise avec mémoire (2018)
  • Bourse d’excellence du Fonds Thérèse-Rousseau-Houle en droit civil (2018)
  • Bourse d’excellence de la Chaire de recherche Antoine-Turmel sur la protection juridique des aînés – maîtrise avec mémoire (2018)
  • Prix de la magistrature du Barreau de St-François (2008)
  • Prix Carswell (2008)
  • Prix du Barreau du Québec (2008)
  • Prix du doyen de la Faculté de droit à l’Université de Sherbrooke (2008)
  • Bourse Fournier Demers (2006)
  • Prix Jean-Martineau (2006)

Recent publications

Baril, Marie-Pier, L'exercice du pouvoir discrétionnaire dans les fiducies testamentaires au Québec: recourir à l'affectation pour concilier l'intention du testateur et la décision de la "personne raisonnable" (2022) 52:1 RGD 55-102.

Clarisse Delaville

Clarisse DelavilleClarisse Delaville is a second-year DCL student at McGill Faculty of Law. After completing two bachelor’s degrees in international relations and Swiss law at the University of Geneva (Switzerland), she obtained a Master’s degree in international law at the Geneva Graduate Institute (Switzerland) in 2021. She is passionate about international law and, agriculture & food governance. Her doctoral thesis focuses on gender inequalities and power imbalances in OECD agri-food systems. She explores the role of informal and formal institutions in structuring those inequalities. She is currently the Vice Secretary General of the Société québécoise de droit international and instructor to the McGill Law Faculty students’ team for the francophone international law moot court competition Charles-Rousseau

 

Leanna Katz

Leanna KatzLeanna Katz is a doctoral candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law.  Her interests include labour and employment law, social welfare law, contract law, competition law, administrative law, and critical and feminist legal theory. Her work has been published in the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, the Georgetown Journal on Poverty Law and Policy, the Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues, and the Commonwealth Judicial Journal. Leanna holds an O’Brien Graduate Fellowship at the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellowship.  She is also the Director of the Transnational Justice Clinic and its first Adam-Burke Global Justice Fellow.

Leanna previously clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, and was a litigator at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in New York. She earned an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, a J.D. from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, and B.A.Sc. from McMaster University’s Arts and Science Program.

Aurélie Lanctôt

Aurélie LanctôtAurélie Lanctôt est doctorante en droit. Ses recherches portent sur les théories féministes du droit, les approches culturelles de l’étude du droit, le droit pénal et les mécanismes de justice alternatifs. Son projet de thèse se penche sur les témoignages extra-judiciaires dans le contexte du mouvement #MeToo/#MoiAussi, plus particulièrement ceux livrés à travers la création littéraire. Elle tente ainsi de démontrer que le choix de s’exprimer hors du système judiciaire n’apparait pas comme un choix de dépit; il articule un discours singulier sur la justice et peut véhiculer une intention de rupture avec le droit, posant les jalons d’une pratique féministe radicale et autonome. 

Avant d’entamer son parcours au doctorat, elle a été codirectrice et rédactrice en chef de la revue Liberté et oeuvré dans le monde du journalisme et de l’édition. Elle tient une chronique hebdomadaire au quotidien Le Devoir depuis 2017 et publie des essais (Lux éditeur, Atelier 10). 

Education 

  • LL.M, Université de Montréal (2019) *Cheminement avec mémoire, mention « Exceptionnel » 
  • BCL/JD, Université McGill (2017) 
  • B.A Communication (Journalisme), Université du Québec à Montréal (2013) 

Awards 

  • Bourse Joseph-Armand-Bombardier du conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (2022) 
  • Bourse du Fonds de recherche du Québec: Société et Culture (2021)  
  • Prix du meilleur mémoire de maîtrise de l’Association des professeurs de droit du Québec (2020) 
  • Grand prix du journalisme indépendant – Opinion (2016) 
  • John G. Ahern Memorial Award, McGill Faculty of Law (2016) 
  • Prix Pierre-Vadeboncoeur de l’essai politique (2015) 

Ali Ekber Çınar

AliAli Ekber Çınar is a doctoral student at McGill University Faculty of Law. His research focuses on Islamic law, finance, and legal history. Prior to his doctoral studies, he completed a four-year extracurricular program in Islamic studies, worked as a graduate assistant for the Department of Legal History at Galatasaray University, and obtained an LL.M. from Istanbul University Faculty of Law, where he wrote a thesis on debt assignment (ḥawāla) in Islamic and Ottoman legal history. His publications may be found on Academia and ResearchGate. 

His current research interests include digital humanities and data science. Ali Ekber is always interested in projects in these areas and may be reached at ali.cinar [at] mail.mcgill.ca. 

AliAli Ekber Çınar est doctorant à la Faculté de droit de l'Université McGill. Ses recherches portent sur le droit musulman, la finance islamique et l'histoire du droit. Avant ses études doctorales, il a suivi un programme de quatre ans en études islamiques, a travaillé comme assistant pour le Département d'Histoire de droit de l'Université de Galatasaray et a obtenu un LL.M. de la Faculté de droit de l'Université d'Istanbul, où il a rédigé une thèse sur la cession de dette (ḥawāla) dans le droit musulman et ottoman. Ses publications sont disponibles sur Academia et ResearchGate. 

Ses intérêts de recherche actuels incluent les humanités numériques et la science des données. Ali Ekber est toujours intéressé par des projets dans ces domaines et peut être contacté à ali.cinar [at] mail.mcgill.ca. 

Marie Dry

Marie DryMarie Dry is a doctoral candidate at McGill University Faculty of Law and Université Paris Nanterre. Her doctoral research in comparative family law, under the joint supervision of Professors Angela Campbell and Marc Pichard, focuses on the intersection of law, sexualities, and gender. She studies more specifically feminist and queer legal theories in the context of reforms for 2SLGBTQI+ families. Her doctoral project is funded by the Philippe Lette Fellowship in Comparative Law and the LGBT Purge Fund.

At McGill's Faculty of Law, Marie is acting as Graduate Students Representative on the Equity Committee and as a member of the 2023 Graduate Law Conference organizing committee. She is also a member of the Réseau québécois en études féministes (RéQEF).

Marie holds a BA in Political Sciences, an Advanced Certification in Gender Studies, and a Master's in Economic Law (Summa Cum Laude) from Sciences Po Paris. She was also a visiting student at the University of Toronto and at Harvard Law School. Previously, Marie worked at the World Bank Group as a legal analyst for the Women, Business and Law Project. She conducted research on family law reforms in Sub-Saharan Africa and on the rights of women with disabilities around the world.

Marie DryMarie est doctorante à la Faculté de droit de l'Université McGill et à l'Université Paris Nanterre. Ses recherches doctorales en droit comparé de la famille, sous la co-supervision des professeur.e.s Angela Campbell et Marc Pichard, portent sur l'intersection du droit, des sexualités et du genre. Elle étudie en particulier les théories juridiques féministes et queer dans le contexte des réformes pour les familles 2SLGBTQI+. Son projet doctoral est financé par la bourse Philippe Lette en droit comparé et le LGBT Purge Fund.

À la Faculté de droit de McGill, Marie est représentante des étudiant.e.s des cycles supérieurs au sein du Comité d'équité et membre du comité organisateur de la Conférence des étudiant.e.s des cycles supérieurs en droit 2023. Elle est également membre du Réseau québécois en études féministes (RéQEF).

Marie est titulaire d'une licence en sciences politiques, d'une certification avancée en études de genre et d'une maîtrise en droit économique (Summa Cum Laude) de Sciences Po Paris. Elle a également été étudiante invitée à l'Université de Toronto et à Harvard Law School. Auparavant, Marie a travaillé au sein du Groupe de la Banque mondiale en tant qu'analyste juridique pour le projet Les Femmes, l'Entreprise et le Droit. Elle menait alors des recherches sur les réformes du droit de la famille en Afrique subsaharienne et sur les droits des femmes en situation de handicap dans le monde.

Chintan Nirala

Niralachintan.nirala [at] mail.mcgill.ca (Chintan Nirala) is currently pursuing his doctorate in international investment law and constitutional law at McGill University under the guidance of Prof Andrea K. Bjorklund. His research focuses on the socio-legal aspects of investment law and the feasibility of establishing a multilateral investment court. Chintan holds a Master of Laws degree in International Dispute Resolution from King’s College London, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from the University of Allahabad, India.

Chintan has previously worked as a consultant on investment disputes and international commercial arbitration cases. As a qualified Indian advocate, he practised in India and was part of a commercial chamber. In addition, he has acted as tribunal secretary and research intern under several Indian Supreme Court and High Court Judges. He has also been a member of the editorial teams for several legal journals and has actively engaged with pro bono work.

Education

Degrees

  • Doctor of Civil Law (DCL), McGill University, 2020 – Present
  • Master of Laws in International Dispute Settlement (LLM), King’s College London, 2017-2018
  • Bachelor of Laws (BA LLB Hons.), University of Allahabad, 2012-2017

Certificates and Diplomas

  • Certificate in Arbitration of International Disputes, Leiden University, 2020
  • Certificate in Justice (HarvardX), Harvard University, 2020
  • Certificate in Cyber Law, Indian Law Institute, 2013
  • Certificate in Intellectual Property Rights, 2014

Awards and Recognitions

  • ICCA Inclusion Diversity Award (2022)
  • L Yves Fortier International Arbitration Awardee (2021 and 2022)
  • Clive V Allen Fellowship (2020)
  • Governor’s Recognition for Social Work, Uttar Pradesh, India (2017)

Selected Publication

Articles

  • Role of Intellectual Property in ISDS Conflicts involving Human Rights Issues, Journal of Intellectual Property Rights, NISCAIR, Volume 25, 2020 pg 15-22.
  • Section 309 of Indian Penal Code: Introspection of the concept of ‘Suicide’! The Debate and Its Solution, AIR- Criminal Law Journal (CriLJ) 2016, pg no. 105-113.
  • Fundamental Rights and Frequencies: Right to Broadcast, The Lex-Warrier, Online Law Journal, LW (2015).

Blog Posts

  • Investment Arbitration and Human Rights: Odi et Amo, ArbDossier Investment and Commercial Arbitration Review (May 4, 2022).
  • The Ambiguous Time-Bar for Enforcement of Foreign Awards in India, Kluwer Arbitration Blog (July 28, 2020).
  • Indian Arbitration Amendment Quandary 3.0- Hindustan Corporation v Union of India, Indian Arbitration Blog (March 14, 2020).
  • The Judgments Convention: A Game Changer in the Field of International Commercial Disputes? Kluwer Arbitration Blog (November 13, 2019).

 

Stefan-Michael Wedenig

Stefan-Michael WedenigStefan-Michael Wedenig is a Doctoral Candidate at the Institute of Air and Space Law at McGill Univeristy. He holds an LL.M Degree from McGill University and a Master of Laws (Magister Iuris) Degree from the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria.  He is the Executive Director of the Institute and Centre for Research in Air and Space Law at McGill University.  

Stefan-Michael’s research interest lies in both, Air & Space Law. His doctoral thesis, under the supervision of Professor Ram Jakhu addresses the issue of the international responsibility of States for their space activates involving AI. He conducts research on the interaction of AI on public international law, extra-contractual liability and the various sources of international law. He looks at the question whether, how and to what extent the current legal regime pertaining to responsibility and liability of States can accommodate the emergence of AI.  

Additionally, Stefan-Michael conducts research in Aviation Finance, Sovereignty and urban air mobility.  

His latest publications can be found here and here 

Tanya Oberoi 

Tanya OberoiTanya Oberoi is a disputes and arbitration lawyer and a doctoral candidate at McGill University’s Faculty of Law. Tanya has a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution from the National University of Singapore and has previously worked on commercial arbitration, corporate and business disputes in India. She has also received training at arbitration institutes in Asia (SIAC and AIAC) through internship and traineeship programs.  

Tanya is the recipient of the Yves Fortier International Arbitration Graduate Award for her doctoral studies at McGill. She is researching the effect of renewable energy investment arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty on Spain’s governance, under the supervision of Prof. Andrea K. Bjorklund. Tanya’s research interests include commercial arbitration, investor-state dispute resolution, international relations, and transnational law.  

Tanya is also thoroughly involved at the Faculty of Law as a graduate student and is a part of various event and conference committees. She was elected the Vice-President (Academic) of the McGill Graduate Law Student’s Association (GLSA) 2022-23. She chaired the Organizing Committee of the 16th Annual McGill Graduate Law Conference: “Law & Prejudice” and was Editor-in-chief of the online journal GLSA Research Series (2023). She has also been the student organizer of the Nappert Prize in International Arbitration (2022 and 2024). 

She can be reached at tanya.oberoi [at] mail.mcgill.ca.  

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