Jean Allain
Jean Allain is a prominent scholar and expert in international law, particularly known for his work on modern slavery and human trafficking. Born on October 29, 1965, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he has a robust academic background, having earned degrees in political science and international relations as well as multiple postgraduate qualifications in international law from esteemed institutions. Notably, Allain's research has been influential in shaping judgments regarding the modern concepts of slavery, as evidenced by his contributions to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Throughout his career, Allain has held various academic positions across the globe, including professorships at Queen's University in Belfast and Monash University in Australia, where he teaches courses on public international law and human rights law. His commitment to addressing human exploitation issues has led him to consult for several major organizations, including the UNHCR and Anti-Slavery International. Allain's publications include significant works on the legal frameworks surrounding slavery, and his expertise has been instrumental in critical legal cases addressing forced labor and trafficking. Fluent in both English and French, he combines his scholarly pursuits with a dedication to advancing human rights globally.
Jean Allain
Professor and human rights advocate
- Born: October 29, 1965
- Birthplace: Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Significance: Jean Allain is a Canadian/British professor and human rights advocate who has dedicated his career to the study of and education about modern slavery and human trafficking. He has authored dozens of books and articles and served on several advisory boards related to these subjects. A 2016 ruling on human trafficking by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights relied heavily on Allain’s expertise on several topics, including forced labor and modern enslavement.
Background
Jean Allain was born October 29, 1965, in Sudbury, Ontario, one of the largest French-speaking areas of Canada. In 1988, he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and international relations from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and followed this with a master’s degree in the same concentration from Brock University in St. Catherine’s in 1994. From 1995 to 2000, he pursued two post-graduate degrees from the Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. The first was a master’s degree in international law earned in 1996, while the second was a PhD in international law, which he earned in 2000. His master’s thesis was completed as a fellow of the Organization of American States at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica. During his studies, he also conducted research in a library of the United Nations (UN) and the archives of the League of Nations.
Life’s Work
Allain began his career in international law while still pursuing his graduate degrees. In 1992, he worked with the legal advisory division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa. He was a law clerk to the president of the International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands from 1996 to 1997.
In 2004, he became a professor of public international law and occupied the Chair of Public International Law at Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland, focusing not only on public international law but also on human rights law. In 2007, he also became an extraordinary professor at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, Centre for Human Rights, teaching public international law. At the same time, he served as a professor of international public law at the University of Hull Wilberforce Institute for the study of slavery and emancipation in England. From 2017 to 2020, he was a visiting professor at Beijing Pedagogical University. He joined the faculty at Monash University in Australia in 2017.
Allain has taught graduate-level courses on various forms of law, including humanitarian law, law of the sea, and UN law. He has also instructed graduate-level students on various aspects of international human rights law, including European and Inter-American law, as well as the UN’s role in human rights. Allain’s expertise also extended to supervising and examining other students’ graduate theses and acting as a consultant for several international organizations, including the world’s oldest international human rights organization, Anti-Slavery International, which he began working with beginning in 2015, and the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO).
In addition to his teaching duties, Allain has served as a consultant to international organizations. These include the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs and the UN High Commissioner of Refugees, where he served as an expert panelist at the launch of Anti-Trafficking Week in 2013. In 2016, Allain traveled back to Costa Rica to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to serve as an expert witness in a Brazilian case involving forced labor and enslavement. In the Hacienda Brasil Verde case, hundreds of teens and men were brought to a remote, isolated area of Brazil to work under the pretense of good salaries but instead were subjected to abuse and forced to work in poor conditions for little or no pay. The court ruled that the practice of enslavement had evolved to a condition that did not require outright ownership of individuals. Instead, the court’s ruling was that modern slavery involves forced work and control of a person through violence, deception, or other forms of force. Allain’s research and testimony were integral parts of this October 2016 ruling issued by the Inter-American Court.
In addition to teaching about forms of modern enslavement and human trafficking, Allain has written books and articles about these topics and edited several additional works. These include The Slavery Conventions: The Travaux Préparatoires of the 1926 League of Nations Convention and the 1956 United Nations Convention (The Travaux Préparatoires Of Multilateral Treaties) (2008), The Law and Slavery: Prohibiting Human Exploitation (2012), and Slavery in International Law: Of Human Exploitation and Trafficking (2013). His articles include “The White Slave Traffic in International Law, Journal of Trafficking and Human Exploitation” in 2017, “Conceptualizing the Exploitation of Human Trafficking” in 2019, and “Slavery, Slave Trade, Servitude and Forced Labour, Prohibition of” in 2022.
Impact
Allain is one of the world’s foremost experts in modern enslavement and human trafficking. He has applied his expertise as an advisor to numerous organizations, including Anti-Slavery International and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. His research has informed key rulings on these subjects, including a landmark ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Personal Life
Allain holds dual citizenship in Canada and Britain. He is bilingual, speaking both English and French fluently. He is married and has three children.
Principal Works
Books
The Slavery Conventions: The Travaux Préparatoires of the 1926 League of Nations Convention and the 1956 United Nations Convention (The Travaux Préparatoires Of Multilateral Treaties), 2008
The Law and Slavery: Prohibiting Human Exploitation, 2012
Slavery in International Law: Of Human Exploitation and Trafficking, 2013
Bibliography
“Allain, Jean - Personal Data.” Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/SP/CallApplications/HRC43/SR‗Slavery/ALLAIN‗Jean‗Form.doc, Accessed 5 July 2023.
“Jean Allain.” Monash University, lens.monash.edu/@jean-allain. Accessed 5 July 2023.
“Jean Allain.” Monash University Research Output, research.monash.edu/en/persons/jean-allain/publications/. Accessed 5 July 2023.
“Jean Allain.” United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law, legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ls/Allain‗bio.pdf. Accessed 5 July 2023.
Weiser, Jean. “Case Comment: Inter-American Court Issues its First Decision on Modern Day Slavery: Case of Hacienda Brasil Verde.” Queen’s University, 16 Feb. 2018, globaljustice.queenslaw.ca/news/case-comment-inter-american-court-issues-its-first-decision-on-modern-day-slavery-case-of-hacienda-brasil-verde. Accessed 5 July 2023.
Williams, Hattie. “Countries Yet to Make Slavery Illegal Are Tracked.” Church Times, 14 Feb. 2020, www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2020/14-february/news/uk/countries-yet-to-make-slavery-illegal-are-tracked. Accessed 5 July 2023.
“World-Leading Anti-Slavery Expert Prof Jean Allain Joins Monash Law.” Monash University, 23 Jan. 2017, www.monash.edu/law/news/articles/archive/monash-law-welcomes-world-leading-anti-slavery-legal-expert-prof-jean-allain. Accessed 5 July 2023.