Yan Campagnolo
Yan Campagnolo
Vice-Dean of the French Common Law Program and Full Professor

Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD), University of Toronto, Massey College
Master of Laws (LLM), University of Cambridge, Trinity College
Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Ottawa, Common Law Section
Licentiate in Laws (LLL), University of Ottawa, Civil Law Section

Room
57 Louis-Pasteur Street
Phone
Office: 613-562-5800, Extension 7595
Fax: 613-562-5124


Biography

Professor Campagnolo is a member of the Ontario Bar. He holds degrees in both civil law and common law from the University of Ottawa (summa cum laude), where he was awarded the Gold Medal for the highest standing in law. As a recipient of the Right Honourable Paul Martin Sr. Scholarship, he then obtained a master’s degree in public international law from the University of Cambridge. Professor Campagnolo completed doctoral studies in constitutional law at the University of Toronto with the support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). His doctoral research focused on the political, legal and theoretical dimensions of Cabinet secrecy in Canada.

At the professional level, from 2004 to 2005, Professor Campagnolo served as a law clerk to Justice Morris Fish of the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2006, he joined the Civil Law Section of the University of Ottawa, where he worked as an assistant professor, assistant dean and codirector of graduate studies in law until 2008. From 2008 to 2015, Professor Campagnolo practised law as counsel for the Privy Council Office. In this capacity, he advised the Prime Minister and the Clerk of the Privy Council on Supreme Court of Canada high-impact constitutional litigation, commissions of inquiry, democratic reform and access to information. In 2015, he joined the Common Law Section of the University of Ottawa as an assistant professor. In 2020, he was promoted to the rank of associate professor and, in 2024, to the rank of full professor. He currently serves as faculty advisor to the Ottawa Law Review and vice-dean of the French Common Law Program. 

Research Interests

  • Access to information law
  • Administrative law
  • Cabinet secrecy
  • Comparative law
  • Constitutional law
  • Political and legal theory
  • Public international law
  • Trusts and fiduciary relationships

Courses

  • Administrative Law (CML 2712)
  • Cabinet Secrecy and the Rule of Law (CML 4916)
  • Legislation (CML 1704)
  • Trusts (CML 3707)

Selected Publications

Public Law Books

Behind Closed Doors: The Law and Politics of Cabinet Secrecy, Vancouver, UBC Press, 2021.

Le secret ministériel: théorie et pratique, Quebec, Presses de l’Université Laval, 2020.

La Constitution canadienne, Toronto, Dundurn, 2019 (with Adam Dodek).

Private Law Books

Contract Law in Quebec, 3rd edition, in Jacques Herbots, editor, International Encyclopaedia of Laws, Wolters Kluwer, Alphen aan den Rijn, 2021 (with Sébastien Grammond and Anne-Françoise Debruche).

Quebec Contract Law, 3rd edition, Wilson & Lafleur, Montreal, 2020 (with Sébastien Grammond and Anne-Françoise Debruche).

Books Edited

Elements of Quebec Civil Law: A Comparison with the Common Law of Canada, 2nd edition, Thomson Reuters, Montreal (with Aline Grenon and Louise Bélanger-Hardy) (forthcoming). 

Éléments de common law canadienne: comparaison avec le droit civil québécois, 2nd edition, Thomson Reuters, Montreal (with Louise Bélanger-Hardy and Aline Grenon) (forthcoming). 

Book Chapters

La culture de la justification en droit administratif, in Stéphane Beaulac and Jean‑François Gaudreault‑DesBiens, editors, JurisClasseur Québec, Collection droit public, Droit administratif, LexisNexis, Montreal (with Paul Daly) (forthcoming). 

L’interaction du droit constitutionnel et du droit administratif, in Stéphane Beaulac and Jean‑François Gaudreault‑DesBiens, editors, JurisClasseur Québec, Collection droit public, Droit administratif, LexisNexis, Montreal, 2021. 

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Les règles d’interprétation bijuridique favorisent-elles l’émergence d’un dialogue transsystémique entre le droit civil et la common law ? (2023) Revue générale de droit (with Catherine Valcke) (forthcoming). 

Les articles de revues de droit les plus cités de tous les temps par la Cour suprême du Canada (2023) 54:1 Revue de droit d’Ottawa 1 (with Camille Andrzejewski). 

The Most-Cited Law Review Articles of All Time by the Supreme Court of Canada (2022) 60:1 Alberta Law Review 129 (with Camille Andrzejewski). 

Rethinking Cabinet Secrecy (2020) 13:3 Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law 497. 

Repenser le secret ministériel (2020) 50:1 Revue générale de droit 5. 

Assessing the Influence of the Ottawa Law Review at the Supreme Court of Canada: 1966-2017 (2019) 50:3 Ottawa Law Review 89 (with Kyle Kirkup). 

Étude de l’influence de la Revue de droit d’Ottawa auprès de la Cour suprême du Canada (de 1966 à 2017) (2019) 50:3 Revue de droit d’Ottawa 55 (with Kyle Kirkup). 

Cabinet Secrecy in Canada (2019) 12:3 Journal of Parliamentary and Political Law 583. 

Le secret ministériel au Canada (2018) 12:1 Revue de droit parlementaire et politique 33. 

Cabinet Immunity in Canada: The Legal Black Hole (2017) 63:2 McGill Law Journal 315. 

The History, Law and Practice of Cabinet Immunity in Canada (2017) 47:2 Revue générale de droit 239. 

A Rational Approach to Cabinet Immunity Under the Common Law (2017) 55:1 Alberta Law Review 43. 

The Political Legitimacy of Cabinet Secrecy (2017) 51:1 Revue juridique Thémis de l’Université de Montréal 51.


See Professor Campagnolo’s SSRN page.