Martin Ennals Award Patrons

Louise Arbour

Canadian national who held the positions of Associate Professor and Dean at York University in Toronto. Thereafter she was appointed to the Supreme Court and to the Court of Appeal in Ontario. Her international career started when she was appointed by the UN Security Council as Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda in 1996. After three years, she resigned to join the Supreme Court of Canada. She came back to the international scene in July 2004 when appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She left in 2008.
Louise Arbour has received honorary doctorates from twenty-seven Universities, has published and lectured extensively on international and national criminal law. As High Commissioner, she presented the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) in 2005 and 2006.