Allan Rock P.C., C.M., O.Ont., K.C.

Allan Rock is a distinguished lawyer with more than four decades of experience in litigation, public service, international affairs, and higher education.

Mr. Rock practised civil, administrative, and commercial litigation for 20 years (1973–1993) with a national law firm in Toronto. In 1988, he was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He also served as Treasurer (President and CEO) of the Law Society of Ontario.

Elected to the Canadian Parliament in 1993 and re-elected in 1997 and 2000, Mr. Rock served for a decade as a senior minister in the Government of Canada under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. His portfolios included Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada (1993–1997), Minister of Health (1997–2002), and Minister of Industry (2002–2003), where he held significant responsibilities across both social and economic policy.

In 2003, he was appointed Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations. In that role, he led Canada’s successful diplomatic initiative culminating in the unanimous adoption at the 2005 World Summit of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, affirming the international community’s obligation to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other mass atrocities. He subsequently served as a United Nations Special Envoy investigating the unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers during the Sri Lankan civil war.

From 2008 to 2016, Mr. Rock served as the 29th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ottawa, one of Canada’s leading research-intensive institutions and the world’s largest bilingual (English-French) university. He is President Emeritus and a former Professor in its Faculty of Law. Following his presidency, he was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School, affiliated with the Program on International Law and Armed Conflict.

Mr. Rock continues to contribute to international governance and human rights initiatives. He is a member of the World Refugee and Migration Council; Chair of the Board of Directors of Security Council Report; a member of the international Board of Directors of Human Rights Watch; and a member of the Board of Integrity Initiatives International. He succeeded Justice Richard Goldstone as Chair of the group preparing a treaty to establish an International Anti-Corruption Court. He has also been appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General to co-chair an expert panel tasked with recommending more effective and humane global drug control strategies.

Mr. Rock is a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.