Louise Arbour

The Honourable Madam Justice Louise Arbour (born February 10, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is the current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a former Supreme Court of Canada judge.

Related Topics:
February 10 - 1947 - Montreal, Quebec - Canada - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - Supreme Court of Canada - Judge

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Born in Montreal, Quebec to 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.

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In 1967, she graduated from the Université de Montréal with a Bachelor of Arts and an LL.L. in 1970. She became the Law Clerk for Mr. Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of the Supreme Court of Canada in 1971-1972 while completing graduate studies at the Faculty of Law (Civil Section) of the University of Ottawa. She was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1977.

Related Topics:
Université de Montréal - Supreme Court of Canada - University of Ottawa - Ontario

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Ms. Arbour was a Research Officer for the Law Reform Commission of Canada and an Associate Professor and Associate Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School, where she taught from 1974 to 1987. She also 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.

Related Topics:
Osgoode Hall Law School - Canadian Civil Liberties Association

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In 1995, Madam Justice 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.

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In 1996, she was appointed Chief Prosecutor of War Crimes before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. In that capacity she indicted then President Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes, the first time a serving head of State was called to account before an international court http://www.un.org/icty/indictment/english/mil-ii990524e.htm. She has published extensively on criminal procedure, human rights and civil liberties in both English and French.

Related Topics:
Rwanda - Former Yugoslavia - The Hague

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In 1999 Louise Arbour was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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On February 20, 2004, she was appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position she took officially on July 1, 2004. She replaces Sergio Vieira de Mello, who was killed in a bombing in Baghdad, Iraq, in August 2003.

Related Topics:
February 20 - 2004 - UN High Commissioner for Human Rights - July 1 - Sergio Vieira de Mello - Bomb - Baghdad - Iraq - August 2003

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