Darryl Robinson was a Hauser Scholar at New York University School of Law (LLM International Legal Studies), where he received the Jerome Lipper Award for outstanding achievement in international law.  Prior to that, he was the Gold Medalist at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law, where he was a President's National Scholar.

He articled at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt in Toronto and clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada for Justice John Major.

He served as a Legal Officer at Foreign Affairs Canada from 1997-2004, providing legal advice and engaging in international negotiations concerning international human rights, humanitarian and criminal law.  His work in the creation of the International Criminal Court and in the development of Canada's new war crimes legislation earned him a Minister's Citation and a Minister's Award for Foreign Policy Excellence.

He joined the International Criminal Court as an adviser to the Chief Prosecutor, from 2004 to 2006.  He developed policies, provided legal advice, drafted submissions, and negotiated cooperation agreements with the UN, Interpol and others.

From 2006 to 2008, he was a Fellow, Adjunct Professor and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.  He was involved in an intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Omar Khadr case as well as bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of a community of Roma who were expelled from their homes.

He joined Queen's University Faculty of Law in July 2008.  In 2013, he received the Antonio Cassese Prize for International Criminal Studies for his innovative contributions to the field. He was a member of a SSHRC-funded partnership on strengthening access to international justice, which was awarded a SSHRC Impact Award in 2022 and a Governor-General’s Innovation Award in 2023.  In 2023, he was inducted in the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists; in the same year he received a Canada’s Clean50 Award for his contributions on the crime of ecocide.

Research:

  • International Criminal Justice
  • Ecocide and Environmental Crimes
  • Moral Theory of International Criminal Law

Recent Professional Achievements:

  • Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists (2023)
  • Canada’s Clean50 Award (2023)
  • Governor General’s innovation Award (2023) and SSHRC Impact Award (2022) for SSHRC Partnership team
  • SSHRC Insight Grant on ecocide (2022-)
  • Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow, European University Institute (2022)
  • Member of Promise Institute for Human Rights working group on ecocide (2021)
  • SSHRC Partnership Grant on strengthening international criminal justice (2016-2021)
  • SSHRC Insight Development grant on the theory of crimes against humanity (2016-2020)

Recent Publications:

Books

Articles

Book Chapters

  • “Crimes Against Humanity and Peace” in Louise Mallean, Rachel Killean, and Lauren Dempster, Encyclopedia of Law and Peace (Elgar, 2026)
  • “International Environmental Crimes and Ecocide”, in in Susan Smith and Iina Sahramaki, eds, Research Handbook on Environmental Crimes and Criminal Enforcement (Elgar, 2024) 281-303
  • “‘No Win Scenarios’ in Situation and Case Selection: A Call for Holistic Conversation” in Carsten Stahn, ed, The International Criminal Court in Its Third Decade: Reflecting on Law and Practices (Brill, 2024) 174-194
  • "Article 30 - The Mental Element" in Kai Ambos, ed, The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 3rd Edition (Beck, 2021)(with Donald Piragoff)
  • “Crimes Against Humanity:  A Better Policy on ‘Policy’”  in Carsten Stahn, ed, The Law and Practice of the International Criminal Court (Oxford University Press 2014)

Legal Submissions