Payam Akhavan and Frédéric Mégret promoted Full Professors

The Faculty of Law is pleased to announce that Professor Payam Akhavan and Professor Frédéric Mégret have been promoted to the rank of Full Professor, effective 1 March 2019.

Professor Akhavan teaches and researches on public international law, international dispute settlement, international criminal law, human rights, and cultural pluralism. He received the degrees of Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) and a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard Law School after obtaining an LLB at Osgoode Hall Law School. Prior to joining McGill, he was a senior fellow at Yale Law School and a UN prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda at the Hague, making significant contributions to their foundational jurisprudence. In 2017, he delivered the CBC Massey Lectures, In Search of a Better World: A Human Rights Odyssey, in five different Canadian cities. His companion book was a #1 bestseller (non-fiction) in Canada.

Professor Mégret’s interests lie in international criminal justice, international human rights law, the law of international organizations, transitional justice, and general international law. He was named a William Dawson Scholar by McGill University in March 2015 and held the Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) on the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism from 2006 to 2015. He served as associate dean (research) at the Faculty of Law from 2012 to 2015. Before developing an interest in international criminal law and humanitarian law, he completed a stint as a member of the United Nations Protection Force deployed in Sarajevo. He holds a PhD from the Graduate Institute of International Studies (University of Geneva)/Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), a Maîtrise de droit privé from Université de Paris I, and an LLB from King’s College, London.

“As acknowledged in glowing terms by the external experts consulted, Professor Akhavan and Professor Mégret have emerged as two of the world’s leading voices in international criminal law,” underscored Dean Robert Leckey on sharing the news. “Their careers are a vivid illustration of the capacity of imaginative legal research to change our ideas and actions. I look forward to their continued outstanding contributions to this field of pressing importance.”