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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2000

HALIFAX - Joseph J. Arvay, Q.C., of Victoria has been named winner of the Walter S. Tarnopolsky Human Rights Award.

"Joseph Arvay is one of Canada's most tireless civil rights and human rights lawyers," says Madam Justice. Michèle Rivet, President, (Canadian Section) International Commission of Jurists. "He has made a exceptional commitment to human rights in this country."

Mr. Arvay has undertaken many and diverse public-interest cases, frequently on a pro bono basis. They include the Little Sisters Bookstore freedom of expression case, the UBC students' action against the conduct of the federal government and the police at the 1997 APEC conference, and the defense of the Nisga'a Treaty against constitutional challenges earlier this year.

Mr. Arvay practises civil, constitutional and administrative litigation with the Victoria firm of Arvay Finlay, which was founded in 1990. He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1977 and the Bar of British Columbia in 1982. He was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1987. He holds law degrees from the University of Western Ontario Law School and Harvard Law School. He spent five years as a professor at the University of Windsor Law School, subsequently moving to British Columbia in 1981. There, he litigated criminal and civil cases on behalf of the British Columbia Attorney General until leaving for private practice over a decade ago.

Named in honour of the late Hon. Walter S. Tarnopolsky, a talented human rights advocate and scholar, the award recognizes a resident of Canada who has made an outstanding contribution to domestic or international human rights.

The award takes the form of an inscribed bronze medallion and an honorarium of $1,000. The award is presented at the annual meeting of the International Commission of Jurists, held on Monday, Aug. 21 at 3:30 p.m. in the Highland Suite 7 at the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax, during the Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference. Mr. Arvay will deliver an address following presentation of the award by the Hon. Michèle Rivet.