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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 13, 2010
NIAGARA – Jayne Stoyles of Ottawa has been selected as the recipient of the 2010 Walter S. Tarnopolsky Human Rights Award, recognizing her outstanding contributions to domestic and international human rights.
“Jayne exemplifies all of the qualities the Tarnopolsky award seeks to reward and celebrate. She brings extraordinary vision, energy and leadership skills to the work of strengthening the protection of universal human rights by improving law, policies and practices in Canada with respect to international justice,” said Paul D.K. Fraser, Q.C., President of the International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section).
“As Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, Jayne has made and continues to make groundbreaking contributions to the work of bringing alleged perpetrators to justice in Canadian courts and abroad, and of assisting survivors of human rights atrocities to help seek legal remedies.”
During Ms. Stoyles’ tenure, the non-profit Canadian Centre for International Justice has developed a high-profile honorary council, whose members include Louise Arbour, Philippe Kirsch and Lloyd Axworthy. She also created a national network of volunteer experts, trained settlement agencies across Canada, coordinated legal research projects, organized and participated in international justice conferences, developed cases involving torture and other atrocities that may proceed in Canada or internationally, and created the content of a Bill before Parliament, to reform Canadian law on state immunity.
Ms. Stoyles received an LL.B. from Queen’s University and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1997. For the next two years, she served as coordinator of international programs for the Canadian Red Cross Society.
Ms. Stoyles became director of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court in 1999, an initiative then in its infancy. Through the network of member organizations and experts coordinated by the global team she oversaw, the necessary 60 ratifications for the entry-into-force of the International Criminal Court were achieved and the negotiations about many aspects of how the Court would function were successfully completed at the UN.
“From 1999 to 2002 Jane shepherded the Coalition for the International Criminal Court to a completely new level of organization and effectiveness,” Mr. Fraser said. “Her efforts were instrumental in helping develop the Coalition into one of the most successful and praised global human security campaigns.”
For five years, Ms. Stoyles was a senior adviser with the Institute for Global Policy in the area of international human rights and criminal law, conflict prevention and UN reform. She also served as a founding member of the Canadian Peacebuilding Coordinating Committee.
The award will be presented at the meeting of the Canadian Judges’ Forum on Monday, Aug. 16, at 12:00 p.m., in the Elizabeth Room of the Crowne Plaza. The forum is held in conjunction with the CBA 2010 Canadian Legal Conference and Expo in Niagara from August 15-17. Ms. Stoyles will give the Tarnopolsky address at the Annual Meeting of ICJ Canada at 3:00 p.m., in the Brock Room, Crowne Plaza, on the same day. The events are open to accredited media. Please contact Hannah Bernstein for accreditation.
The Walter S. Tarnopolsky Award recognizes a resident of Canada who has made an outstanding contribution to domestic or international human rights. The Award is administrated by the International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section). Recipients are chosen by an annually constituted Selection Committee comprised of representatives of ICJ Canada, the CBA, the Canadian Association of Law Teachers, and the Canadian Superior Court Judges Association.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Hannah Bernstein
The Canadian Bar Association
From August 13 -17:
Tel: 905-374-4646
E-mail: hannahb@cba.org
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