McGill.CA / Faculty of Law / Faculty Members

François Crépeau

Full Professor

New Chancellor Day Hall
3644 Peel Street
Room 606
Montreal, Quebec
Canada H3A 1W9

514-398-2961 [Office]
francois.crepeau [at] mcgill.ca (Email)

François Crépeau

Biography

François Crépeau, O.C., O.Q., F.R.S.C., Dr.h.c. Clermont-Auvergne, Trudeau Fellow 2008, Ad.E., is Full Professor, at the Faculty of Law of McGill University. He was the Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Chair in Public International Law from 2009 to 2022 and the Director of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism from 2015 to 2020.

Professor Crépeau the Chair of the Thematic Working Group: Migrant Rights and Integrations in Host Communities, KNOMAD – Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development, World Bank Group, Washington, DC.

He is or was a member of several editorial boards: Journal of Refugee Studies, International Journal of Refugee Law, Refuge, Droits fondamentaux, European Journal of Human Rights, Inter Gentes – McGill Journal of International Law & Legal Pluralism.

Professor Crépeau was the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants from 2011 to 2017. In this capacity, he has conducted official visits to Albania, Tunisia, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Malta, the European institutions in Brussels and Vienna, Angola, Australia (including the Australian detention centres in Nauru). He has also produced several thematic reports: the detention of migrants, the protection of migrants’ rights at the external borders of the European Union, climate change and migration, global migration governance, labour exploitation of migrants, labour recruitment practices, trade agreements and migration. He was the Chair of the Coordination Committee of the United Nations Human Rights Procedures (2014-2015).

Professor Crépeau was a member of the Scientific Committee of the Agency for Fundamental Rights of the European Union (FRA, Vienna, AT) (2018-2023), a member of the Advisory Committee of the International Migration Initiative of the Open Society Foundations (NY) (2017-2021) and a member of the Board of Directors of the International Bureau for Children’s Rights (Montreal) (2018-2021).

He was guest professor at Université catholique de Louvain (yearly, 2010-2020). He was the 2017-2018 International Francqui Professor Chair at Université catholique de Louvain, in collaboration with six other Belgian universities (Université de Liège, Antwerp University, Université libre de Bruxelles, Université Saint-Louis, Ghent University, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven). He was the 2016-2017 Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Visiting Professor of Human Rights Chair at Georgetown University (Washington, DC). He has also been guest professor at the following institutions :  Centre de recherches sur les droits de l’homme, Université de Paris Panthéon-Assas (2018), Institut international des droits de l’homme (Strasbourg) (2001, 2002, 2007, 2008, 2015) ; Graduate Institute for International Studies (IUHEI-Genève, 2007), Institut des hautes études internationales, Université de Paris II (2002), Université d’Auvergne-Clermont 1 (1997).

Professor Crépeau is an Officer of the Order of Canada (2017), an Officer of the Order of Quebec (2022), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (2012), a Fellow of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation (2008-2011), a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Université de Clermont-Auvergne (France, 2018), and an Advocatus Emeritus (Ad.E.) of the Quebec Bar Association (2013).

From 2001 to 2008, Professor Crépeau was a professor at Université de Montréal, holder of the Canada Research Chair in International Migration Law (2004-2008) and founding director of the Centre d’études et de recherches internationales de l’Université de Montréal (CÉRIUM). From 1990 to 2001, he was a professor at Université du Québec à Montréal.

Until 2011, Professor Crépeau also sat on the Quebec Law Society’s Committee on Human Rights and Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, was the “Justice, Police and Security” domain coordinator for the Quebec Metropolis Centre, and was a member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. He served as vice-president of the Canadian Human Rights Foundation (now Equitas) (1992-2004) and director of the Revue québécoise de droit international (1996-2004). He participated in observer missions in the occupied Palestinian territories (2002) and in El Salvador (1991).

Professor Crépeau holds degrees from McGill University (BCL and LLB), Bordeaux University (DEUG and Licence in law, Master’s in private law), Paris II University (DEA in legal sociology) and Paris I University (DEA in Business Law and Ph.D. in law).

Books

  • MAYER Benoit, CRÉPEAU, François (eds.), Research Handbook on Climate Change, Migration and the Law, Cheltenham (UK): Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, SHEPPARD, Colleen (eds.), Human Rights & Diverse Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.
  • FORCESE, Craig, CRÉPEAU, François (eds.), Terrorism, Law and Democracy: 10 Years after 9/11 – Terrorisme, Droit et Démocratie: 10 ans après le 11 septembre 2001, 2011, Montreal: Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice, 2012.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, RANGER, Julie (dir.), Recueil de droit des réfugiés: Instruments, Jurisprudences et Documents (The Refugee Law Reader), 2e édition en français, Budapest: Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 2012.
  • CRÉPEAU, François (dir.), Recueil de droit des réfugiés: Instruments, Jurisprudences et Documents (The Refugee Law Reader), 1re édition en français, Budapest: Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 2010.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, NAKACHE, Delphine, ATAK, Idil (dir.), Les migrations internationales contemporaines – Une dynamique complexe au cœur de la globalisation, Montréal: Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2009.
  • BYRNE, Rosemary, AUKOT, Ekuru, CHIMNI, Bhupinder, CRÉPEAU, François, FULLERTON, Maryellen, GARLICK, Madeline, GUILD, Elspeth, JAKULEVICIENE, Lyra, NAGY, Boldiszar, PERAL, Luis, VEDSTED-HANSEN, Jens (dir.), The Refugee Law Reader – Cases, Documents and Materials, 5th edition, , Budapest/Dublin: Hungarian Helsinki Committee, 2008.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, THÉRIEN, Jean-Philippe (dir.), Penser l'international, Perspectives et contributions des sciences sociales, Montréal: Presses de l’Université de Montréal, 2007.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, NAKACHE, Delphine, COLLYER Michael, GOETZ, Nathaniel H., HANSEN, Art, MODI, Renu, NADIG, Aninia, SPOLJAR-VRZINA, Sanja, Van WILLIGEN, Loes H.M., (eds.), Forced Migration and Global Processes – A View from Forced Migration Studies, Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2006.
  • DELAS, Olivier, CÔTÉ, René, CRÉPEAU, François, LEUPRECHT, Peter (dir.), Les juridictions internationales: complémentarité ou concurrence ?, Bruxelles, Bruylant, 2005.
  • CRÉPEAU, François (dir.), Mondialisation des échanges et fonctions de l’État, Bruxelles: Bruylant, 1997.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, Droit d’asile: De l’hospitalité aux contrôles migratoires, Bruxelles: Bruylant, 1995.

Recent Academic Publications

  • ATAK, Idil, CRÉPEAU, François, « Asylum in the Twenty-First Century: Trends and Challenges », in TRIANDAFYLLIDOU, Anna (Ed.), Routledge Handbook of immigration and Refugee Studies, 2nd edition, Oxford: Routledge, 2023.
  • ATAK, Idil, CRÉPEAU, François, « Le défi de la gouvernance des migrations internationales », in Christian Nadeau, Philippe Néméh-Nombré (Dir.), Les droits en mouvements - L’avenir des libertés, Montréal : Éditions Somme Toute, 2022.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, “Migration Law and Policy on the Road to Redemption: Hostile Identity Politics v. Individual Rights and Socioeconomic Benefits”, Foreword to: Jean-Yves Carlier, Marie-Claire Foblets, Law and Migration in a Changing World, Basel (CH): Springer International Publishers, 2022, pp v-xii.
  • CRÉPEAU, François, « ‘Accroche ta charrue à une étoile’ – Une perspective à long terme sur la mobilité humaine », in : FLEURY-GRAFF, Thibaut, JACOB Patrick, Migrations et droit international, Colloque 2021 de la Société française de droit international, en collaboration avec le Projet RefWar (ANR 2019-2023), Paris : Éditions Pedone, 2022, pp 573-584.

Recent Communications

  • 2023.09.26: “Migration Governance and Human Rights: Toward long-term strategic ‘facilitation’ of mobility”, Guest lecture in the course on “Migration and Human Development”, by Pr Daniel Naujoks, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
  • 2023.06.21: « Asylum in Canada », in the webinar series on the "Legal Avenues to Access International Protection", with Pr Shauna Labman (University of Winnipeg) and Adèle Garnier (Université Laval), organised by the Italian Academy of Law and Migration, Università degli Studi della Tuscia, Viterbo, IT.
  • 2023.06.07 : « La protection des enfants migrants dans le Pacte mondial pour les migrations, entre principes et mesures concrètes de mise en œuvre », in : « Le cadre normatif relatif aux enfants migrants », Atelier d'information organisé par le Groupe de travail national pour le suivi et l’implémentation du Pacte mondial pour les migrations, Hôtel Mechtel, Tunis, Tunisie.
  • 2023.04.25: « La gouvernance multilatérale de la mobilité humaine: un défi planétaire », Faculté de droit, Université de Sherbrooke. (Videoconference)
  • 2023.05.05: “Migration Detention & Alternatives to Detention”, Specialists' Course on International Refugee Law, Department of International Refugee Law and Migration Law, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo (Italy), 14 March - 9 June 2023. (Videoconference)
  • 2023.04.25: « La gouvernance multilatérale de la mobilité humaine: un défi planétaire », Faculté des Sciences Juridiques, Économiques et Sociales de Rabat-Agdal, Université Mohamed V, Agdal, Rabat, Maroc.
  • 2023.04.05: « Midi-discussion sur l’asile au Canada : Quelques réponses du droit international », webinaire organisé par l’Observatoire sur les Migrations Internationales, les Réfugiés, les Apatrides et l'Asile (OMIRAS), Université du Québec à Montréal. (vidéoconférence)
  • 2023.03.24: “La gouvernance multilatérale de la mobilité humaine: un défi planétaire », dans le cours Droit international des réfugiés, de Me Camille Marquis-Bissonnette, Université de Sherbrooke. (vidéoconférence)
  • 2023.03.20: “Securing borders and facilitating mobility are not incompatible. On the contrary…”, in a panel on “Border Controls, Securitization and the Way Forward”, with Pr Hakan Gurcan Sicakkan and Pr Pierre-Georges VanWolleghem, University of Bergen, and Pr Elspeth Guild, Queen Mary University of London, at the “Bordering Migration Workshop – Theoretical Debates and Recent Developments in Border Policies and Practice”, organised by Pr Idil Atak, at the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Migration and Integration (CERC Migration), Toronto Metropolitan University, 20-21 March 2023.
  • 2023.02.23: “The international Law of Human Trafficking”, in a webinar on “Human Trafficking in Aviation”, organised by the Institute of Air and Space Law of McGill University, in a panel with Prof. Michel Veuthey (Ambassador of the Sovereign Order of Malta), Linda Ristagno (Assistant Director, External Affairs, IATA), Martin Maurino (Technical Officer, Global Aviation Safety, ICAO), Youla Alhaddadin (Senior Advisor on Trafficking in Persons, OHCHR), Prof. Martine De Serres, (Adjunct Professor, McGill University), online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxXCkdhJDEk

Recent interviews and media interventions

 

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