University of Toronto law professor awarded notable $225,000 Trudeau Foundation Fellowship

TORONTO, ON –  Pro­fes­sor Kent Roach, Wil­son-Prichard Chair in Law and Pub­lic Pol­i­cy at the Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Fac­ul­ty of Law, was award­ed an esteemed Trudeau Foun­da­tion Fel­low­ship today, worth $225,000, in recog­ni­tion of his out­stand­ing schol­ar­ly and pro bono con­tri­bu­tions in con­sti­tu­tion­al, human rights and anti-ter­ror­ism issues.

The Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foun­da­tion is an inde­pen­dent, non-par­ti­san char­i­ty estab­lished in 2001. Its Fel­low­ships are award­ed annu­al­ly to promi­nent researchers and thought lead­ers who make mean­ing­ful con­tri­bu­tions to the world’s social issues in four key areas: human rights and dig­ni­ty; respon­si­ble cit­i­zen­ship; Cana­da in the world; and peo­ple and their nat­ur­al envi­ron­ment.

A world-renowned legal expert, Roach has shared his exper­tise with coun­tries such as Egypt, Tunisia, South Africa, Indone­sia and Kenya, has act­ed as pro bono coun­sel to inter­ven­ers in 13 ground­break­ing Supreme Court of Cana­da cas­es, and has worked on notable com­mis­sions of inquiry: Ipper­wash, Arar and the Truth and Rec­on­cil­i­a­tion. In addi­tion, Roach was the research direc­tor for the Goudge Inquiry into Foren­sic Pathol­o­gy and the Air India bomb­ing inquiry. His cur­rent schol­ar­ly focus is on com­par­a­tive con­sti­tu­tion­al reme­dies, counter-ter­ror­ism and wrong­ful con­vic­tions.

“Pro­fes­sor Kent Roach has made out­stand­ing con­tri­bu­tions to some of the most crit­i­cal schol­ar­ly and pub­lic pol­i­cy debates of our time. As one of Canada’s most ded­i­cat­ed, thought­ful and cre­ative aca­d­e­mics, he has helped shape Canada’s place in the world with his abid­ing com­mit­ment to improv­ing respect for human rights and dig­ni­ty, and respon­si­ble cit­i­zen­ship,” says Pro­fes­sor Mayo Moran, dean of the Fac­ul­ty of Law. “We are so thrilled he has received one of this country’s most impor­tant research awards.”

Pro­fes­sor Paul Young, U of T vice-pres­i­dent of research, says: “Con­grat­u­la­tions to Pro­fes­sor Roach. I’m delight­ed that his schol­ar­ship is being rec­og­nized with such a pres­ti­gious hon­our. Trudeau Fel­low­ships cel­e­brate researchers who are engag­ing with the chal­lenges of their times. Pro­fes­sor Roach’s work, which has exam­ined every­thing from the Supreme Court to ter­ror­ism to our con­sti­tu­tion, exem­pli­fies this spir­it of engage­ment as it helps us under­stand the his­to­ry and insti­tu­tions that shape our lives.”

Roach has authored 12 books, includ­ing the award-win­ning The 9/11 Effect: Com­par­a­tive Counter-Ter­ror­ism, and numer­ous arti­cles and chap­ters. His texts on crim­i­nal law and the Cana­di­an Char­ter of Rights and Free­doms are used broad­ly. He plans to use the Trudeau Fel­low­ship to research com­par­a­tive per­spec­tives of mis­car­riages of jus­tice, wrong­ful con­vic­tions, and con­sti­tu­tion­al reme­dies.

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Read Pro­fes­sor Kent Roach’s biog­ra­phy.

Read the Trudeau Foun­da­tion media release.

For more infor­ma­tion, con­tact:

Kent Roach
Pro­fes­sor and Wil­son-Prichard Chair in Law and Pub­lic Pol­i­cy
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Fac­ul­ty of Law
Kent.roach@utoronto.ca

Lucian­na Cic­co­ciop­po
Direc­tor, Exter­nal Rela­tions
Uni­ver­si­ty of Toron­to Fac­ul­ty of Law
Lucianna.ciccocioppo@utoronto.ca
Tel: 416–946-0334