2025 Public Sector Lawyer Award presented to Sylvie Scherrer
- ccilccdiwebsite
- 2 hours ago
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The Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL) is delighted to announce that Sylvie Scherrer has been honored with the 2025 Public Sector Lawyer Award. This prestigious award, in recognition of significant contribution or service in the field of public international law by a public sector lawyer, was presented to Ms. Scherrer on November 14 during the CCIL Annual Conference.
Sylvie Scherrer worked in the legal affairs branch (Sous-ministériat des affaires juridiques) of Québec’s Ministère de la Justice from 1987 to 2024. She dedicated her career to the practice, promotion and implementation of international law for the Government of Québec.
She has spent her career practicing public and private international law in the context of a federated state. She served as legal counsel for various government departments, helped defend Québec measures before international and domestic bodies and acted as a jurist on cases involving issues of international law, in addition to a range of domestic law mandates.
From the beginning of her career, she has been interested in international trade agreements, and she advised government authorities in this new sector of activity for Québec’s Ministère de la Justice for many years. She also handled a wide variety of mandates in public international law (human rights, treaty rights, the law of international organizations, environmental law, investment law, and the recognition of professional qualifications, etc.) as well as in private international law, particularly for international adoptions. She has served on interministerial and federal-provincial-territorial committees and taken part in negotiations and the legislative and regulatory implementation of international conventions and agreements.
Ms. Scherrer is a pioneer in the practice of international law within the Government of Québec. For over 30 years, she played a key role in developing Québec’s international legal practice and promoting an understanding of the applicable law and its implementation within the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie (MRIF) and the Ministère de la Justice, as well as among the MRIF’s partners, including by training a new generation of professionals within the Québec public service.
Click-here to learn more bout the CCIL's Public Sector Award.