Louise Arbour- Looking Evil in the Eye and Not Blinking

Louise Arbour- In her own words:

“Judicial bodies provide a forum for truth telling, for the simple affirmation of a reality sometimes so brutal that the human mind could otherwise be forgiven for suppressing it, or for inventing half plausible rationalizations that could serve to dilute or to reassign the blame. Yet it is very much our collective mission, in part the link that binds us together, to understand our past as we embrace our future. There is no better time for Canadians to become global citizens, democrats in a world in which we could be tempted to view ourselves as an aristocracy. Without painting an unduly romantic self image of Canadians as citizens of the world, I do believe that largely because of and through our differences, we are exporters of ideas and of ideals, committed to leave no one behind as we embrace a future enriched, rather than mortgaged by the past.”

In 1969, Louise Arbour began her studies in law at the Université de Montréal; two years later she graduated and was called to the Quebec Bar in 1971. She then made her home in Ottawa and clerked for Mr Justice Louis-Philippe Pigeon of the Supreme Court of Canada. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1977. Her keen mind and hard work led to a meteoric rise. She became first a professor of law and then Vice Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law Faculty at York University in Toronto. In 1987 she was appointed to the Ontario Supreme Court. In 1990 she moved to the Ontario Court of Appeal, the first francophone ever appointed. She was recognized by her peers as a first-class, indeed a ground-breaking, judge, who was leaving her mark on the profession. She wrote widely on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some of her decisions attracted public attention, most notably her 1992 ruling that prison inmates have the right to vote. In 1995 she tabled a devastating report on Canada's prison system following her investigation of violent incidents at the Kingston Penitentiary for Women.



Judge Arbour enjoyed wide respect and became an international figure. In 1996, Un Secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali announced that he had chosen her to act as prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal. It was a gruelling task. She had to supervise the work of two tribunals set up by the UN in 1993-94. The first was investigating war crimes in the former Yugoslavia and more recently in Kosovo, the second was investigating the genocide in Rwanda in the spring of 1994. Louise Arbour ruffled feathers: in 1997 she accused France of "dragging its feet" in Bosnia by not arresting war criminals. In May 1999, while the war in Kosovo was at its height, she did not hesitate to accuse the President of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic, of war crimes. Many international observers criticized her willingness to speak out, claiming that she was undermining the chances for a peace treaty with Belgrade. By June 1999, Louise Arbour had the world’s attention. Her courage and her dedication have given a measure of justice for those that have suffered at the hands of war criminals in our time.



She decided at that point to withdraw from the hunt for war criminals, and accepted a seat on the Supreme Court of Canada. Madam Justice Arbour brought to the Supreme Court an incredible range of experience and a vast knowledge of the law. She currently heads The International Crisis Group.