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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 12, 2002

LONDON - Senator Gérald-A. Beaudoin, O.C., Q.C., has been named the 2002 recipient of the Walter S. Tarnopolsky Human Rights Award.

"Senator Beaudoin has had a long and distinguished career as a scholar, teacher, and Senator," says Professor Ed Ratushny, President of the Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). "A special aspect of his selection is his close former relationship with Walter Tarnopolsky. Senator Beaudoin was the first Associate Director of the University of Ottawa's Human Rights Research and Education Centre, when Professor Tarnopolsky served as its founding Director. In this capacity, the two also co-edited the first edition of The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: A Commentary."

Senator Beaudoin is a native of Montréal and received both his B.A., his LL.L and M.A. from the University de Montréal. He was called to the Quebec Bar in 1954. He later received a D.E.S.D. from the University of Ottawa, and a LL.D (honoris causa) from Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium.

Senator Beaudoin's list of accomplishment in the service of Canada is long and varied. As a lawyer, he has worked in private practice with Paul Gérin-Lajoie in Montréal, with the Department of Justice, and as Assistant Parliamentary Counsel. As an academic, he has worked at the University of Ottawa as Professor, as Dean of Civil Law, and as Associate Director and Director of the Human Rights Centre. He has served in the Canadian Senate since 1988.

He is the author of several books and editor and co-editor of several others dealing primarily with the Canadian Constitution and the Charter and with human rights in Canada and abroad. Senator Beaudoin is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has served as President of the Canadian Section of the International Commission of Jurists and for many years as a member of Council.

The Walter S. Tarnopolsky 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 (Canadian Section), held on Monday, Aug. 12, at the Canadian Bar Association Annual Conference.

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CONTACT: Patricia Whiting, Canadian Bar Association, 500 - 865 Carling Ave. , Ottawa, ON, K1S 5S8 Tel: (613) 237-2925, ext. 125; E-mail: patw@cba.org