Name:
Irwin Cotler
Job title:
Irwin Cotler is the Minister of Justice and Attorney
Political party involved:
Irwin Cotler is involved in the Liberal party, and the level of government is federal.
Biography:
Minister Cotler is currently a Professor of Law at McGill University, where he is a Director of the Human Rights Programme, and Chair of Inter Amicus, of the McGill-based International Human Rights Advocacy Centre. He has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Yale Law School, and is the recipient of five Honorary Doctorates, including one from York University, whose citation referred to him as "a scholar and advocate of international stature."
He has always been closely involved with a variety of human rights causes, including political prisoners in the former Soviet Union, tracking down of Nazi war criminals, and war crimes trials in Rwanda. He played an important role in the international anti-apartheid movement by mobilizing universities into divestment campaigns, working with members of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and developing a new constitution for post-apartheid South Africa.
Romania, Germany, Canada, Hungary
Canada
Central Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Vancouv...Irwin Cotler has been to South Africa a number of times in order to address a variety of anti-apartheid issues.
Years in office:
Irwin Cotler is a Member of the Parliament for the Mount Royal, where he was first elected in a by-election in November 1999. On December 12, 2003, the Prime Minister appointed him Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Minister Cotler was re-appointed on July 20th following the General Election of June 28, so he only worked as a Minister of Justice and Attorney for one year. Now Minister Irwin Cotler currently serves as a member of the following Cabinet Committees: the Priorities and Planning; Domestic Affairs; Canada-U.S; Global Affairs; and the Aboriginal Affairs Cabinet Committee.