September 15, 1999 - Louise Arbour - a podcast by Stephen Hammond

Louise Arbour appointed to Supreme Court before heading world human rights. Louise Arbour was born on February 10, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec. Her distinguished career started at the University of Montreal, where she earned her law degree before clerking for a Supreme Court of Canada judge and earning her masters in law at the University of Ottawa. She taught criminal law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto’s York University, first as a lecturer and finally as associate dean in 1987. Arbour was appointed to Ontario’s High Court of Justice before a quick elevation to Ontario’s top court in 1990. She gained national attention with her enquiry into the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario, after violence erupted more than once. She moved to the international stage in 1996 when she was appointed the chief prosecutor of war crimes in the Hague for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, where among other accomplishments, she indictment former Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milošević for crimes against humanity. Arbour left her post early, and on September 15, 1999, she was sworn in as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Thinking the position would be her last before some kind of retirement, Arbour made the tough decision to leave one of the most important jobs in Canada. She was called back to the international stage when on July 1, 2004 United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, with the approval of the General Assembly, appointed her high commissioner for human rights. When on March 15, 2006 the assembly created the new United Nations Human Rights, Arbour transferred to the helm of that post. Arbour’s commitment to human rights has made her the recipient of dozens of honorary doctorates from universities, and numerous awards.

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