Annual McGill Law Journal Lecture - International Law and Human Rights: The Power and the Pity

The McGill Law Journal is pleased to welcome the Honourable Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella to the Faculty of Law, where she will deliver the McGill Law Journal Annual Lecture.

Every year, the McGill Law Journal invites a distinguished speaker to deliver a scholarly address of significant contemporary interest to members of the McGill community, the Bar, the judiciary and the general public. This annual event has attracted notable speakers in years past, including members of the judiciary, dignitaries, and legal scholars of international repute. This year, the Journal is  delighted to welcome a particularly prominent figure in Canada’s legal community.

About the speaker

Justice Abella’s personal story is nothing short of remarkable. Born in a displaced persons camp at the end of the Second World War, she worked her way through university and eventually became a litigator. When first appointed to the Ontario Family Court in 1976, Justice Abella was the youngest and first pregnant judge in Canadian history. She was appointed to Ontario’s Court of Appeal in 1992, and finally to the Supreme Court of Canada in 2004. Justice Abella is considered one of Canada's foremost experts in human rights law, and has also served as Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board and the Ontario Law Reform Commission, as well as a board member of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Furthermore, she chaired the Ontario Study into Access to Legal Services by the Disabled. Justice Abella was the sole Commissioner of the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, where she coined the term “employment equity” as part of a strategy for reducing barriers in employment faced by women, visible minorities, people with disabilities, and Aboriginal peoples in Canada. She also taught at McGill‘s Faculty of Law for a number of years as Boulton Visiting Professor. She has been the recipient of 27 honourary degrees.

Following the lecture, there will be a reception in the Atrium that will be generously provided by Osler Hoskin & Harcourt LLP. The 2010 Annual Lecture has also received support from Students’ Society of McGill University and the McGill Office of the Dean of Students.

For directions and more information about this event, please visit lawjournal.mcgill.ca or contact the McGill Law Journal at journal.law [at] mcgill.ca.