Louise Arbour was born in Montreal,Quebec to Bernard and Rose (née Ravary) Arbour,the owners of a hotel chain. She attended convent school,during which time her parents divorced. As editor of the school magazine,she earned a reputation for irreverence.[4]
In 1967,she graduated from Collège Regina Assumpta,and proceeded to the Universitéde Montréal where she completed an LL.B. with distinction in 1970. She became the law clerk for Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1971–72 while completing graduate studies at the Faculty of Law (Civil Section) of the University of Ottawa. This is where she met her long time common-law partner Larry Taman,with whom she lived for 27 years.[5] In a 2014 interview,Arbour named the move from Quebec to Ontario as the "biggest hurdle [she] had to overcome to succeed in [her] career," as her entire education had been in French.[6]
She has three adult children:Emilie,Patrick and Catherine.[7] Her daughter Emilie Taman was an NDP candidate in the 2015 Canadian election in the electoral district of Ottawa—Vanier.[8] Emilie also was a candidate for the NDP in the 2017 by-election[9] and 2019 general election.[10] She also has three grandchildren.[6] Arbour’s son-in-law (common law spouse to Emilie Taman) is Ottawa criminal lawyer Michael Spratt,who was named one of Canadas top 25 most influential lawyers in 2020[11] and is a partner at the Ottawa criminal law firm AGP LLP.[12]
From 1972–73,Arbour was research officer for the Law Reform Commission of Canada. She then taught at Osgoode Hall Law School,York University,first as a Lecturer (1974),then as Assistant Professor (1975),Associate Professor (1977-87),and finally as Associate Professor and Associate Dean (1987). She was Vice-President of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association until her appointment to the Supreme Court of Ontario (High Court of Justice) in 1987 and to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990. In 1995,Arbour was appointed as President of a Commission of Inquiry,under the Inquiries Act,for the purpose of investigating and reporting on events at the Prison for Women in Kingston,Ontario,following allegations by prisoners of abuse.[14] The inquiry resulted in the publication of the Arbour Report.
In 1999,Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Arbour to the Supreme Court of Canada on May 26,just one day before the publication of the indictment of Milosevic by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).[16]
In 2004,Arbour retired from the Supreme Court of Canada,having served for just under five years.[17][18]
Career after law
United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights
After leaving the Supreme Court of Canada,Arbour became the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights.[17] She criticized a number of countries for their human rights records.[19] In 2008,she stepped down after serving one four year term.[19]
Works and awards
She has been published in the area of criminal procedure and criminal law,in both French and English. At various times,she has served as an editor for the Criminal Reports,the Canadian Rights Reporter,and the Osgoode Hall Law Journal.[20]
In 2005,Arbour was awarded the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights,along with Justice Richard Goldstone,in recognition of her work on the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.[21] She was the subject of a 2005 fact-based Canadian-German made-for-television movie,Hunt for Justice[de],which follows her quest to indict Bosnian Serb war criminals. Arbour was played by Canadian actress Wendy Crewson.[22] In 2016,she was awarded the prestigious Tang Prize Award in rule of law for her enduring contributions to international criminal justice and the protection of human rights,and to promoting peace,justice and security at home and abroad,and to working within the law to expand the frontiers of freedom for all.
She was made a Companion to the Order of Canada in 2007 "for her contributions to the Canadian justice system and for her dedication to the advancement of human rights throughout the world".[23] She was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2009.[24]
In April 2021,Arbour was appointed to lead an independent review of the military’s handling of sexual assault,harassment and other misconduct,by Canadian Minister of National DefenceHarjit Sajjan.[32] In May 2022,she delivered her report to Canadian Minister of National Defence Anita Anand.[33]
The Canadian made-for-TV movie Hunt for Justice[de] (2005) is a docudrama account of Arbour's work as prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal was an ad hoc court located in The Hague, Netherlands.
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in Resolution 955 in order to adjudicate people charged for the Rwandan genocide and other serious violations of international law in Rwanda, or by Rwandan citizens in nearby states, between 1 January and 31 December 1994. The court eventually convicted 61 individuals and acquitted 14.
The Court of Appeal for Ontario is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto.
Louise Charron, is a Canadian jurist. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada in October, 2004, and is the first native-born Franco-Ontarian Supreme Court judge.
Carla Del Ponte is a Swiss former Chief Prosecutor of two United Nations international criminal law tribunals. A former Swiss attorney general, she was appointed prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in August 1999, replacing Louise Arbour.
International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core crimes under international law are genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
The Lion, the Fox & the Eagle: A Story of Generals and Justice in Rwanda and Yugoslavia is a non-fiction book by Canadian journalist Carol Off. The hardcover edition was published in November 2000 by Random House Canada. The writing was favourably received and the book was short-listed for the Shaughnessy Cohen Award for Political Writing. With numerous interviews and extensive research behind it, the book presents biographies of three Canadians in United Nations roles in the 1990s: Roméo Dallaire, Lewis MacKenzie, and Louise Arbour.
The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law is the law school at the University of Ottawa, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1953, the faculty is today divided into Civil Law and Common Law sections, the two formally recognized legal traditions in Canada.
Gabrielle Anne Kirk McDonald is an American lawyer and jurist who, until her retirement in October 2013, served as an American arbitrator on the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal seated in The Hague.
The Faculty of Law at Université de Montréal in Canada was officially founded in 1892. In 2018, the Faculty was ranked as the best francophone law school in the world. In addition to its civil law degree (LL.B.), the Law School offers a one-year J.D. in common law for Quebec civil law graduates that enables them to take the bar exam in other Canadian provinces and in New York, Massachusetts and California.
Charles Ayodeji Adeogun-Phillips is a former United Nations genocide and war crimes prosecutor, international lawyer and founder of Charles Anthony (Lawyers) LLP.
The International Commission against the Death Penalty (ICDP) was founded in Madrid in October 2010, as a result of a Spanish initiative. ICDP is an independent body composed of Commissioners of high standing who have experience in international law and human rights, and are committed to achieving the universal abolition of capital punishment. Their experience, background, geographical representation and personal involvement in abolishing the death penalty enables them to engage with senior officials from different countries.
Russell S. Brown is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He was nominated by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to replace outgoing justice Marshall Rothstein and served in the role starting on August 31, 2015. Prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, he was a justice at the Alberta Court of Appeal, and before that a law professor at the University of Alberta. He resigned on June 12, 2023, prior to the completion of an investigation by the Canadian Judicial Council into alleged harassment.
Women in law describes the role played by women in the legal profession and related occupations, which includes lawyers, paralegals, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans.
Women work in the legal profession and related occupations throughout Canada, as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans. In Canada, while 37.1% of lawyers are women, "50% ...said they felt their [law] firms were doing "poorly" or "very poorly" in their provision of flexible work arrangements". It was also reported that, in 2006 in Ontario, "racialized women accounted for 16% of all lawyers under 30" and that only 1% of lawyers were Aboriginal.
The O'Connor Justice Prize, named for former United States Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O’Connor, was established in 2014 to raise visibility for rule-of-law initiatives; recognize people who have made extraordinary contributions to advancing the rule of law, justice, and human rights; and to honor O'Connor's legacy.
Maureen Harding Clark is an Irish judge who served as a Judge of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia since June 2019, a Judge of the High Court from 2006 to 2014, a Judge at the International Criminal Court from 2003 to 2006, and a Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia from 2001 to 2003.
A by-election was held in the federal riding of Ottawa—Vanier in Ontario, Canada on 3 April 2017 following the death of Mauril Bélanger on August 16, 2016. The safe seat was held by the Liberal candidate Mona Fortier on a reduced majority.
Michelle O'Bonsawin is a Canadian jurist serving as a puisne justice on the Supreme Court of Canada since September 1, 2022. Before her appointment to the Supreme Court, she served as a judge on the Ontario Superior Court of Justice from 2017 to 2022. O'Bonsawin is the first Indigenous Canadian to serve as a Supreme Court justice.
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