Arbour, Louise (1947-…), a Canadian lawyer and judge, served as the United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004 to 2008. Arbour has served at various levels of the Canadian courts system and in a number of positions related to human rights. She was a judge on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1999 to 2004. Throughout her career, Arbour has spoken out against conditions of extreme poverty and violations of human rights.
Arbour was born in Montreal, Quebec, on Feb. 10, 1947. She graduated from College Regina Assumpta in 1967 and earned a law degree from the Université de Montréal (University of Montreal) in 1970. In the following years, she worked as a clerk for the Supreme Court of Canada and as a researcher for the Law Reform Commission of Canada. From 1974 to 1987, she taught at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto. Arbour also acted as vice president of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1985 to 1987. She served on the Supreme Court of Ontario (now part of Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice) from 1987 to 1990, and on the Court of Appeal for Ontario from 1990 to 1996.
In 1996, the UN Security Council appointed Arbour as the chief prosecutor of war crimes for the international criminal tribunals for Rwanda and the lands that formerly made up Yugoslavia. In 1999, she indicted Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on charges of crimes against humanity and of violating the laws and customs of war. The indictment marked the first time that a sitting head of state had been charged with war crimes. However, Milosevic died in 2006 before his trial could be completed. Arbour left the chief prosecutor position later in 1999, when she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada.
