Governance

Charles-Emmanuel Côté is Associate Dean for Research and External Affairs, Director of the doctoral programme and Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of Université Laval in Quebec City and member of its École supérieure d’études internationales (ESEI). He teaches Public International Law, International Economic Law and Constitutional Law. He was Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Continuing Legal Education and Secretary of the Faculty of Law from 2014 to 2018. He holds a doctorate degree in law from McGill University (Dean’s Honour List) and is a lawyer called at the Barreau du Québec. He was Vice-President of the Société québécoise de droit international (SQDI) and is a member of its board of directors. Professor Côté previously held a position of constitutional policy advisor at the Secrétariat aux affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes (SAIC) of the Quebec Government. He was also a researcher at the Centre de droit de la consommation of the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, where he worked on legislative assistance programmes of the European Commission in Central and Eastern Europe and former USSR countries. He is Member of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Academic Forum which collaborates with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) on ISDS reform. He was also a member of the International Law Association (ILA) Committee on the Rule of Law and International Investment Law. Professor Côté is a member of NAFTA Chapter 19 and CUSMA Chapter 10 panel roster for Canada, as well as of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) panel roster for Quebec. He is also a member of the arbitrators and trade and sustainable development experts roster for bilateral disputes concerning trade agreements of the European Union. His book on the participation of private persons to the settlement of international economic disputes received an award from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). His current research focuses on ISDS reform, freedom of movement within federal states and the international legal aspects of federalism.

Alexandra is a commercial litigator regularly appearing before various courts and tribunals, including international and domestic commercial and sport arbitration panels, Superior Court of Ontario, the Federal Court of Canada, the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT), and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC). In addition to general commercial including judicial review, Alexandra’s practice embraces dispute resolution in the areas of procurement in the context of Canada’s domestic and international trade agreements, copyright, white-collar crime, and various commercial litigation matters involving CBSA regulatory regime. She has also advised on such matters as accession to the WTO, subsidies regimes, and Brexit issues / disintegration from the EU.

Alexandra earned a Master’s of Law degree in 2003 from the University of Ottawa focusing on investment arbitration and international trade law. Alexandra is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Canada Arbitration Committee. She also sits on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL), the Membership Committee of the County of Carleton Law Association (CCLA), and has authored the Parliamentary section of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law since 2003.

Alexandra speaks several languages, including English, German, Belarusian, Russian, and French, and also has a working knowledge of Polish and Ukrainian.

Justin is Counsel at the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section of the Department of Justice and an LL.M student at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. He obtained a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management degree from Carleton University in 2009, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Ottawa in 2013, and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Carleton University in 2013. He was called to the Ontario bar in 2014.

Prior to his role at the Department of Justice, he has held positions at Amnesty International Canada (English Section), the Federal Court of Canada, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Peace Brigades International and the Library of Parliament.