Speaker details

Biography

The Honourable Louise Arbour, C.C., G.O.Q. was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario in 1987 and the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1990. In 1996, the Security Council of the United Nations appointed Madame Arbour Chief Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In this role, she secured the first conviction for genocide (Rwanda) since the 1948 Genocide Convention and the first indictment for war crimes by a sitting European head of state (Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic). She resigned as Chief Prosecutor to take up an appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1999. She was appointed High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations (2004-2008), and the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on International Migration (2017-2018). Madame Arbour, Senior Counsel at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, was appointed in 2021 to lead an independent review into sexual misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces. Madame Arbour has received numerous honorary doctorates and awards. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal.