Objectives, Mission and History

Objectives

A key objective of the Centre is to deepen transdisciplinary collaboration on the complex social, ethical, political and philosophical dimensions of human rights.

The current Centre initiative builds upon the human rights legacy and enormous scholarly engagement found in the Universal Declartion of Human Rights.

First Draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [.doc] handwritten and then annotated by John Humphrey.

Mission statement

The mission of the Centre includes:

• To advance innovative research on human rights and the role of law in a legally plural world;
• To enrich the nexus of scholarship and teaching by engaging undergraduate and graduate students in human rights research projects, human rights internships, international clerkships and advanced scholarship;
• To communicate research results and provide a forum for the exchange of ideas through scholarly publications, public conferences, seminars, and workshops.

History

Created in September 2005, the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism was formed to provide students, professors and the larger community with a locus of intellectual and physical resources for engaging critically with the ways in which law affects some of the most compelling social problems of our modern era, most notably human rights issues.

Since then, the Centre has distinguished itself by its innovative legal and interdisciplinary approach. This was ensured by the cultural and academic diversity among its members. These members come from the Faculty of Law, the Department of Political Science, the Geography Department, the School of Social Work; and the Faculty of Education at McGill, as well as the Department of Sociology at Concordia. The Centre houses some of the world’s leading experts in international criminal law, international comparative law, Aboriginal law, and social diversity and the law.

Centre members have been extensively involved in research and scholarship on international and domestic human rights law, humanitarian law, comparative constitutional protection of human rights, and theoretical and historical approaches to human rights in a legally plural world. Some have been appointed to human rights monitoring and implementation bodies at the national and international levels, and are active in public policy work in collaboration with government.

Research projects have been developed in collaboration with many civil society organizations with which the Centre maintains close working relationships including EQUITAS and Rights & Democracy in Montreal, The International Centre for Ethnic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka, The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, The Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network; The Inter-American Court for Human Rights in San José, Costa Rica, Human Rights Watch in New York, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Arusha, Tanzania, among others.

Since its creation, the Center has enabled McGill law students to participate in human rights legal challenges with the Special Court for Sierra Leone Legal Clinic and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.

The Centre organizes a series of annual public lectures on human rights including the Humphrey Lecture series, the Cassin Lectures, the Wallenberg Lectures, and the Litvack Awards and Lectures. The Centre also runs many workshops, often in conjunction with diverse student groups (See Events).

In October 2007, the Centre hosted the Global Conference on the Prevention of Genocide – the first international conference of its kind on the prevention of genocide. It brought survivors, witnesses, legislators, diplomats, activists and others from around the world together in Montreal (See also Echenberg Conferences).

The Center also organizes human rights internships and international clerkships. Interns are selected for placements with NGOs and tribunals for a period of 12 weeks. Partner organizations provide students with practical work experience in human rights investigation, monitoring, and reporting, and exposure to the operation and implementation of human rights instruments and norms. Clerks work at international human rights tribunals and conduct research and provide support to prosecuting teams.

Since 2005, the Centre’s activities have helped shape McGill’s intellectual and practical commitment to understanding the complex issues in human rights law. Furthermore, the research undertaken reflects the Faculty of Law’s distinctive understanding of legal pluralism.