Home / BCCLA welcomes international human rights award winner

BCCLA welcomes international human rights award winner

This year’s recipient of the prestigious International Gruber Prize for Justice will be in
Vancouver for a talk on the public benefit of human rights. The Honourable Justice Michael
Kirby, former Chief Justice of the Australian High Court, was selected as this year’s corecipient of the prize by an international panel of legal experts in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of justice through the legal system.

Kirby served as Australia’s top judge for over 12 years, during which he earned an
international reputation for staunchly defending human rights and civil liberties. Openly gay, he is also known for his commitment to furthering the rights of minorities, frequently speaking out on the issue. Considered to be among the most influential Australians of all time, Kirby is currently a distinguished visiting fellow at the Australian National University and University of New South Wales Faculty of Law.

He will be speaking at Vancouver’s Supreme Court building in the Law Courts Inn at 800
Smythe Street on Thursday, September 30, 2010. The breakfast event starts at 7:00 a.m.
The judge will be speaking at 7:30 a.m.

The Honourable Justice Michael Kirby’s talk is entitled “What is the Public Benefit of Human
Rights” and is also hosted by the Canadian Bar Association – Civil Litigation Section, and the Pivot Legal Society.

The BCCLA thanks event sponsor the Benefic Group, experts in charity law issues, for their
generous financial support of this event, as well as the Law Foundation of British Columbia for their continuing financial support of the BCCLA.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Robert Holmes, President, 604-681-1310
David Eby, Executive Director, 778-865-7997

CIVIL LIBERTIES CAN’T PROTECT THEMSELVES