Sophie Gagné
Lawyer
Familiar with all three branches of government, Sophie has a comprehensive understanding of how the Canadian state works. In addition to her experience as a law clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal under the Honourable René LeBlanc, she has served as a page in the Quebec National Assembly and has held positions in the Quebec and federal public services. This experience, combined with her interpersonal skills, make her a preferred choice for negotiations and government relations activities.
Having developed an in-depth knowledge of international criminal law as part of her Master’s degree, Sophie is also passionate about Canadian criminal law, and in particular the systemic discrimination it entails. Although Power Law does not represent individuals facing criminal prosecution, criminal law and constitutional rights frequently collide, and Sophie looks forward to contributing to cases involving such issues.
Sophie is also particularly concerned with the disparities between the living conditions of various groups and the rest of the Canadian population, particularly those between the First Peoples and the non-Indigenous population. She offers her clients her knowledge of both Canadian law as applied to First Peoples as well as Indigenous legal orders in order to promote greater self-determination for First Peoples in Canada.
In addition to becoming familiar with the various areas of federal jurisdiction while clerking at the Federal Court of Appeal, Sophie took the opportunity to assist the Indigenous Laws and Legal Orders sub-Committee of the Indigenous Bar Association – Aboriginal Law Bar Liaison Committee. Under the supervision of the Honourable Justices Sébastien Grammond and Paul Favel, Sophie and a few other law clerks prepared summaries of a list of jurisprudential decisions that have taken into account Indigenous traditional legal orders for the benefit of judges and of lawyers with Indigenous clients.
Prior to that, she articled with a boutique law firm in Montreal that specialized in representing Indigenous clients and organizations. Combined with her reflections on traditional Indigenous justice systems, these experiences allow Sophie to support Indigenous communities in the revitalization of their legal systems and the consideration of those systems by the courts.
Sophie is originally from Lévis, Québec, where she has resided for most of her life. In addition to having lived in Québec City, Montréal and Ottawa, she has also spent time in Germany and the Netherlands as part of her studies.
Sophie is also passionate about language learning. She is fluent in French and English, proficient in German and Spanish, and has basic knowledge of Dutch, Italian, Greek and Portuguese.
As part of her Master’s degree, Sophie specialized in international criminal law, international humanitarian law, international human rights law and, more generally, in the protection of fundamental rights in public international law. In particular, she participated in the translation of the Commentary on the Second Geneva Convention of 1949, collaborated with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in the mapping of human rights and international humanitarian law violations in the Central African Republic, and supported the defense team of Bosco Ntaganda, accused before the International Criminal Court. Sophie also led the Université Laval team to the Francophone final of the Jean-Pictet International Humanitarian Law Competition in Bordjomi, Georgia.
Under the direction of Professors Fannie Lafontaine and Julia Grignon, Sophie completed her Master’s thesis in 2022, which consisted of an analysis of the relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples under its jurisdiction with respect to one of the constitutive elements of the crime of apartheid, as defined by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court—the institutionalized regime of systematic domination and oppression by one racial group over another racial group or groups. Sophie will be on the Honour List of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies at Université Laval for the quality of the manuscript.
Gagné, Sophie, Analyse juridique de la relation entre l’État et les peuples autochtones au Québec : le Canada est-il à la tête d’un régime d’apartheid? (LL.M. Thesis, Université Laval, 2022) [unpublished].
Lafontaine, Fannie & Sophie Gagné, “Complementarity Revisited: National Prosecutions of International Crimes and the Gaps in International Law” in Philipp Kastner, ed, International Criminal Law in Context (New York: Routledge, 2017), 260.
Gagné, Sophie, Book Review of Aboriginal Rights and the Making and Remaking of History by Arthur J Ray, (2019) RQDI, online: Société québécoise de droit international <sqdi.org/fr/arthur-j-ray-aboriginal-rights-and-the-making-and-remaking-of-history-montreal-kingston-mcgill-queens-university-press-2016/>.
Gagné, Sophie & Catherine Savard, “One Year After Diab’s Repatriation: Canada’s Extradition Legal Framework Still Threatening Citizens” (15 January 2019), online (blog): Quid justitiae <quidjustitiae.ca/blogue/one-year-after-diabs-repatriation>.
Gagné, Sophie et al, “La décision de la CPI de ne pas ouvrir d’enquête sur l’Afghanistan”, Midi Actualité de type table ronde, delivered at the Faculty of Law, Université Laval, 6 May 2019 [unpublished].
Gagné, Sophie, “Actes de transfert forcé d’enfants autochtones au Canada : Quelle qualification en droit international pénal?”, 16e colloque du Centre interuniversitaire d’études et de recherches autochtones, presented at the Musée de la civilisation, Québec City, 27 April 2018 [unpublished].
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