Professor François Larocque has been awarded the J. Shirley Denison Award by the Law Society of Ontario in honour of his significant contributions to access to justice.
For more than a decade Professor Larocque has advanced an ambitious research program on the language rights of Canada's official language minority communities. As the holder of the Canadian Francophonie Research Chair in Language Rights, his work contributes to better access to justice in French across Canada, and to the realization of true equality between the French and of English languages in Canadian society.
Professor Larocque's numerous contributions are distinguished by his efforts to provide innovative solutions to longstanding problems. For example, as part of his research program, he launched a mobile application called Planctus that facilitates the drafting and transmission of linguistic complaints to various authorities across the country concerned with the protection of language rights. Complaint handling mechanisms play an essential role in Canada's linguistic planning because they ensure respect for language rights, identify systemic problems and educate governments and institutions about their linguistic obligations. Given that it is sometimes complicated and laborious to draft linguistic complaints and to discern to whom they should be directed, Planctus serves to simplify and energize the process by guiding users to the relevant authority and supporting them in drafting their complaints. This facilitation of the transmission of language complaints ultimately promotes better access to justice and direct civic engagement in order to better protect the language rights of Canadians.
In addition to innovations like Planctus, the Law Society of Ontario recognized that Professor Larocque “undertakes research, testifies and presents reports to provincial and federal parliamentary committees and engages directly with community organizations to develop and improve Canadian jurisprudence and legislation that protect language rights” (Law Society announces 2022 award recipients).
The J. Shirley Denison Award is one of several awards handed out by the Law Society of Ontario to recognize legal professionals for their outstanding career achievements and contributions to their communities. It is named in honour of John Shirley Denison, a former Treasurer of the Law Society. In addition to Professor Larocque’s recognition, Common Law alumnus Lawrence Greenspon (LL.B. 1978) will be presented with the Lincoln Alexander Award. The 2022 Law Society Awards Ceremony will be held on May 25, 2022.
More information on the 2022 Law Society of Ontario Awards
Congratulations to Professor Larocque!