Member News
The Honourable Louise Arbour Appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Madam Justice Louise Arbour, formerly of the Supreme Court of Canada, has been named UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She took up her new post in Geneva at the end of June. Justice Arbour served from 1996 to 1999 as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
The post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was established by the UN General Assembly in 1993. The responsibilities of the position are daunting: to monitor and oversee human rights activities throughout the world. Former Ecuadorean Foreign Minister José Ayala Lasso was the first High Commissioner, and Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, the second. Madam Justice Arbour will be the fourth UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, succeeding Sergio Vieira de Mello of Brazil, who was killed during a terrorist bombing of UN headquarters in Baghdad last August, having taken a four-month leave of absence from his position as High Commissioner in order to serve in Iraq as a Special Representative of the Secretary-General.
According to Justice Ian Binnie, Justice Arbour’s appointment is a sad loss for the Supreme Court of Canada but a huge gain for the international community. “No one could come to that job with better qualifications, more common sense, higher integrity, and greater intelligence,” he said. “The United Nations is very fortunate to get her.”
Justice Arbour is a longtime member of ICJ Canada. In November 2002, she addressed 60 ICJ members and law students from the University of Ottawa at a meeting organized by Professor Errol Mendes and hosted by Lang Michener. She spoke primarily on the challenges facing the International Criminal Court, which was then just a few weeks shy of becoming fully operational. A video of her presentation is available for loan to members.
ICJ Canada President Receives 2004 CCAT Medal
Professor Ed Ratushny, President of ICJ Canada, has won the CCAT Medal awarded by the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals. Professor Ratushny is the first-ever recipient of the Medal, which will be awarded annually to a person or persons who make an outstanding contribution to the administrative justice system in Canada. The Medal was presented at CCAT’s International Conference in Toronto in June.
Professor Ratushny has been a longtime member of the Council of ICJ Canada and has served as its President since 2001. During his presidency, Professor Ratushny has worked to promote ICJ Canada’s visibility through more ICJ local meetings and a revamped Newsletter and web site. He has been committed to involving more of the ICJ Canada community in the workings of the organization, notably through the creation of new Executive positions. Professor Ratushny also served on ICJ missions to Northern Ireland in 1999 and to Swaziland in 2003.
Of his work with ICJ Canada, Professor Ratushny says, “It is an honour to serve as President and to have the co-operation and support of so many of our members. I never fail to be impressed by the quality and stature of our members in the judiciary, legal profession, and academic community.”
T. Bradbrooke (“Brad”) Smith,Q.C., former Secretary-Treasurer of ICJ Canada, was recently surprised when an invitation to lunch at the residence of Como van Hellenberg Hubar, Netherlands Ambassador to Canada, turned into an investiture of knighthood. On behalf of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Mr. van Hellenberg Hubar conferred on Mr. Smith the title of Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau. The award was made in recognition of Mr. Smith’s work with the Hague Conference for Private International Law, which promotes, according to the Ambassador, “an international legal system, the rule of law in all international relations, be they public or private in nature, between states or between citizens and their different activities and incorporations.” Mr. Smith has served the Conference in a variety of capacities, including Chair of the Special Commission on Private International Law on Intercountry Adoption.
