Frank Iacobucci CC KC LSM OMRI (born June 29, 1937) is a former Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada from 1991 until his retirement from the bench in 2004.
From 1985 to 1988, he served as the Deputy Attorney General of Canada, playing a key role in constitutional law negotiations during the Meech Lake Accord process.
Prime Minister Brian Mulroney appointed him Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Canada in 1988.
In high school he worked in a steel foundry alongside his father and was inspired by the story of Angelo Branca to pursue law.
[7] Iacobucci practiced corporate law and related fields at Dewey, Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer & Wood in New York City from 1964 until 1967.
[9] Just three years after entering the civil service, in September 1988, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Federal Court.
[5] Following his retirement from the Supreme Court, Iacobucci was appointed interim president of the University of Toronto in 2004, and served in that post until he was replaced by David Naylor in October 2005.
He was a conduct review advisor with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board from 2005 to 2018 and a member of the Ontario Law Commission from 2006 to 2012.
Iacobucci was appointed by the Government of Canada in June 2005 as its representative to lead discussions toward a fair and lasting resolution of the legacy of Indian residential schools.
In September of that same year he joined Torys LLP, as counsel, and since 2005 has been the chair of the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario.
[12] Iacobucci served as the commissioner of an internal inquiry into the role of Canadian officials in the torture and detention of three Arab-Canadians in Syria and Egypt as the personal appointee of Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
[16][17] The report, released in February, 2013, determined under-representation of individuals living on reserves on Ontario's jury roll to be a symptom of a crisis.
In addition to 17 specific recommendations, Iacobucci emphasized the need for establishing a government-to-government relationship that "incorporates an underlying respect for cultural, traditional, and historical values that are different."
On August 28, 2013, in response to the July 27, 2013 shooting death of Sammy Yatim by Toronto Police officer James Forcillo, Iacobucci was requested by Chief of Police Bill Blair to conduct an independent review of "the policies, practices, and procedures of, and the services provided by, the TPS with respect to the use of lethal force or potentially lethal force, in particular in encounters with persons who are or may be emotionally disturbed, mentally disturbed or cognitively impaired.".
[20] The report affirmed the concern that had been raised by the opposition that Mr. Wilkinson had not had necessary information available to him in reaching the decision, particularly his being refused access to an Alberta Justice briefing note that listed the law firm as the last of three that should be considered.
[20] On October 3, 2018, Iacobucci was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to the position of special envoy for the controversial Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
[21] In February / March 2019 media reports noted that Iacobucci had been retained by SNC-Lavalin, concurrent with the company's controversial efforts to secure a Deferred Prosecution Agreement in order to avoid a trial for allegedly bribing Saadi Gaddafi to win engineering and construction contracts in Libya, prior to the fall of the Gaddafi regime in 2011.
In 1993, he received the Commendatore dell'Ordine Al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, the highest honour presented by the Italian Republic.
In Montreal, the Ordre des Fils d'Italie au Canada granted Iacobucci the Lion d'Or Award in 1995.
[2] The couple married on October 31, 1964 and have three children: Andrew, Edward Iacobucci (also a Professor of Law at the University of Toronto) and Catherine.