The Honourable Louise Arbour

The Honourable Louise Arbour is a jurist in residence at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP. In this capacity, she provides strategic advice on litigation, governance and international issues, in particular on issues pertaining to international disputes, and mentors younger lawyers. From March 2017 to December 2018, Ms. Arbour served as the United Nations Special Representative for International Migration, where she leads advocacy efforts on international migration, provides policy advice and coordinates the engagement of United Nations entities on migration issues. She previously served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and as Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  She is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. From 2009 to 2014, Ms. Arbour was President and CEO of the International Crisis Group. She formerly sat as an ad hoc judge in the International Court of Justice, and as a member of the Advisory Panel to the Minister of Defence on Canada’s Defence Policy Review. She has received numerous honorary doctorates and awards. Most noteworthy, she has been a Companion of the Order of Canada since 2007 and a Grand Officer of the Ordre national du Québec since 2009, as well as a Commander of the Légion d’honneur, and has been decorated by Spain, Colombia and Belgium. She was named laureate of the 2016 Tang Prize in the Rule of Law category.