Priscylla Joca
Priscylla Joca is an assistant professor at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Prior to joining the Faculty, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Law. She holds a Doctor in Law (LL.D.) from the Université de Montreal. Her research was supported by a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Her dissertation focused on free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) and self-determination, analyzing the legal-political potentialities and challenges of applying protocols developed by Indigenous peoples and traditional communities to guide consultation and consent processes.
Her research navigates the intersections among multiple legal traditions and legal orders—including Indigenous, international human rights, and state laws—with particular attention to comparative legal studies between Canada and Brazil. Her research also explores how Indigenous peoples and traditional local communities articulate their own laws and rights, challenging conventional state-centred legal frameworks and advancing decolonial approaches to environmental and ecological justice. She is particularly interested in self-determination, territorial rights, and the free, prior, and informed consent of these peoples and communities, adopting an interdisciplinary and critical approach that encompasses both social and environmental sciences to provide a comprehensive perspective on these crucial matters.
As a non-Indigenous researcher, Joca believes that her role as a legal researcher involves building collaborations and partnerships with Indigenous peoples and traditional communities who are leading struggles for self-determination and who are key actors in the development of laws, legal strategies and policies to address social, environmental, and ecological justice and climate change.
To learn more about her academic journey and background, listen to the Halftime Scholars podcast episode, “Half Time Scholars with Dr. Priscylla Joca – Navigating Indigenous Laws and Ecological Governance (external link) .”
For publications, please visit https://torontomu.academia.edu/PriscyllaJoca (external link) .
Papers in Refereed Journals:
Martins, M.P.M.J, Nóbrega, L., Pereira, L. J. (2024). Embates jurídico-políticos em torno do direito à consulta e ao consentimento: os Juruna/Yudjá e os megaempreendimentos no Rio Xingu [Legal and Political Struggles Over the Right to Consultation and Consent: The Juruna/Yudjá and Mega-developments on the Xingu River (external link) ].
Montambeault, F., da Silva, L.A.L., Joca, P.M. (2019). CPLE et protocoles de consultation autochtones au Brésil : trajectoires comparées [FPIC and Indigenous Consultation Protocols in Brazil: Comparative Approaches (external link) ].
Book (authored):
P. Joca, B. Garzón, L. Silva, R. Oliveira, L. Grupioni (2021). Protocolos Autônomos de Consulta e Consentimento: Um olhar sobre o Brasil, Belize, Canadá e Colômbia [Autonomous Consultation and Consent Protocols: Perspectives from Brazil, Belize, Canada, and Colombia (external link) ]. RCA.
Chapters in Books:
Martins, M.P.M.J, Nóbrega, L., Pereira, L. J. (2024). Consuming Land. In M. J. Hird (ed.), Consuming the Environment (external link) . Routledge.
Joca, P. (2020). Protocolos Indígenas de Consulta e Consentimento no Brasil [Indigenous Consultation and Consent Protocols in Brazil]. In S. M. Hernández (ed.), Protocolos Autonómicos de Consulta Previa Indígenas en América Latina: Estudios de casos en Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, México y Perú (pp. 68-105). IWGIA.
Special Issues (edited):
Avoine, P., Coenga, D., Yira, M., Joca, P. et. al. (eds.), (2023). Consentimiento [Consent (external link) ]. Revista Lüvo, 10 (2).
Technical Reports:
Joca, P. (2024). Human Rights Violations and the Struggle for Access to Justice in the Indigenous Territory of Vale do Javari, Brazil: The Case of the Matsés Indigenous People. General Organization of the Matsés Indigenous People.
Garzón, B. R; Joca, P. (2020). Emergence and Legal Foundation of Autonomous Consultation Protocols. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Joca, P. (2019). Technical Report on The Politics of Free, Prior and Informed Consent in Oil, Gas, and Mining Projects in Brazil. Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (Columbia University).
Other Publications:
Joca, P. (2023). After All, What Is Consent? Revista Lüvo, 10(2), pp. 5-15.
Tupari, L, Sabanê, F., Joca, P. (2022). The Indigenous Women Struggle for Space and Respect (external link) . Revista Lüvo, 9(1), pp. 41-49.
Joca, P. (2021). As Vozes da Terra: Reflexões entre histórias, registros fotográficos e ensaios. [The Voices of the Earth: Reflections on Stories, Photographic Records, and Essays (external link) ].
Joca, P., Mantovanelli, T., Reis, C.P. (2020). Nouvelles offensives contre l’Amazonie brésilienne [New Offensives Against the Brazilian Amazon (external link) ]. Relations (810), pp. 27-28.
SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowships (2023-2024)
Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) (2017-2020)
Mitacs-Globalink (2020)
Bourse J. A. DeSève (Université de Montréal) Excellence Scholarship (2020)
Bourse Juliette-Barcelo (Université de Montréal) Excellence Scholarship (2019)
Doctor in Law (LL.D.)
Université de Montreal (UdeM)
2023
LL.M. in Constitutional Law
Federal University of Ceara, Brazil
2011
Bachelor of Laws
Federal University of Ceara, Brazil
2003
“I look forward to being part of the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, where interdisciplinarity and community engagement are fundamental values among brilliant and creative faculty partners and bright students; it will be an honour to join the Lincoln Alexander School of Law and participate in its excellence in research and teaching.”
