SSHRC 2022 Impact Awards recognize two partnerships involving Faculty of Law professors

On December 1, at a special ceremony at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) announced the recipients of the 2022 Impact Awards – and they include two projects with a close connection to the University of Alberta Faculty of Law. 

The five Impact Awards are the highest honour bestowed by SSHRC, recognizing scholars who exemplify the best in cutting-edge research about people, human thought, behaviour and culture. 

Partnership Award: Canadian Partnership for International Justice

This year’s winner of the Partnership Award is the Canadian Partnership for International Justice, led by Professor Fannie Lafontaine from Université Laval. Professor Joanna Harrington has been an integral part of the partnership since 2016 as a co-applicant and member of the Governance Committee.

The Partnership Award recognizes the contribution of a SSHRC-funded partnership that, through mutual co-operation and shared intellectual leadership and resources, has demonstrated impact and influence within or beyond the social sciences and humanities research community. 

The Canadian Partnership for International Justice began in 2015 when a dozen law professors from across Canada made the decision to combine their various research efforts to support human rights, prevent atrocities, punish perpetrators and identify the root causes of these atrocities to achieve a stable peace.

In early 2016, the team was awarded a $2.5 million SSHRC Partnership Grant to use their research and expertise to help strengthen both Canadian and international justice mechanisms, with a focus on the remedies available to victims of grave human rights violations in Canada, in other states and before international institutions, in particular the International Criminal Court.

Today, the partnership has grown to become an across-Canada team of 25 researchers from eight universities, four university-based legal clinics and three non-governmental organizations (NGOs), which aims to strengthen access to justice for victims of international crimes.

Over the years, Harrington’s own work within the partnership has ranged from procedural issues in international human rights litigation to tackling corruption’s contributory role to situations of mass crimes and providing remedies for victims, and extradition law reform. This work has led to peer-reviewed publications, as well as various forms of engagement beyond academia, including the provision of input to the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights on the human rights aspects of stolen asset recovery, and service on a Government of Canada team developing policy recommendations to address grand corruption.

Harrington attributes the success of the Partnership to the exceptional collegiality within the group; the bringing together of academia, legal practice and NGO advocacy; the dedicated efforts of the project leader and the project coordinator; and the genuine desire shared by all to work on a cross-sectoral basis between universities, legal clinics, NGOs and international organizations.

“Through its inclusive approach, the partnership has brought together those working on the International Criminal Court with those working on issues of corporate accountability, as well as those working in the fields of transnational criminal law, refugee law, and human rights law,” she says.

Connection Award: Landscapes of Injustice

This year’s winner of the Connection Award is Landscapes of Injustice, led by Professor Jordan Stanger-Ross from the University of Victoria. 

“I was thrilled that SSHRC has recognized the extraordinary public engagement of Landscapes of Injustice and its director, Professor Stanger-Ross,” says Adams, who has been involved with the research collective since its inception.  

The Connection Award recognizes an outstanding initiative facilitating the exchange of research knowledge within or beyond the social sciences and humanities community to generate intellectual, cultural, social or economic impacts. 

Landscapes of Injustice, a major national research project funded by a SSHRC Partnership Grant, set out to reinterpret the internment of Japanese Canadians during WWII by focusing on the act of dispossession. It examined how and why the forced sale of Japanese Canadian property and possessions took place, and the far-reaching implications for their community of having no homes or neighbourhoods to return to when restrictions were lifted. 

Through its scholarly work – which resulted in a book, museum exhibit, teaching resources and permanent archives -- Landscapes of Injustice presented a powerful new history of this era and detailed the intergenerational trauma experienced by many Japanese Canadians as a result of the injustice perpetrated against them. 

Adams, who was one of the original team members to conceive of the project and put the SSHRC application together nearly a decade ago, served as chair of the legal history research cluster. In this role, he gave dozens of public and professional talks across Canada and around the world and wrote several editorials, articles and book chapters on the constitutional wrongs of Canada’s egregious treatment of Japanese Canadians during the 20^th century. 

“But some of the most important parts of this work have involved the connection of historical research and public knowledge,” he notes. 

This includes working closely on the creation of the national museum exhibit, Broken Promises, working with primary and secondary school teachers to develop teaching resources and assisting in the concept and design of the permanent archive of the material. 

“It was a highlight of my career to be part of the amazing collective of community members and leaders, students, researchers, museum curators, and teachers in this important work,” says Adams.