The CBA calls for permanent mechanism to evaluate human rights in bids to host the Olympic Games

  • February 22, 2014

Ottawa — The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) passed a resolution today urging the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee to create a permanent arm’s-length mechanism to monitor and evaluate human rights in bids to host the Olympic Games. 

The CBA’s resolution notes that human rights – as embodied in the Olympic Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and internationally accepted norms – should also be monitored in host countries before, during, and after the Olympic Games.

“The intent of the resolution is to help ensure that athletes who participate in the Olympic Games and their supporters do not face discrimination of any kind,” says Monique Pongracic-Speier of Vancouver, Chair of the CBA’s International Law Section.

A letter will be sent from the CBA to the International and Canadian Olympic Committees expressing the CBA position.

The resolution was debated at the CBA’s 2014 Mid-Winter Meeting of Council, along with other resolutions aiming to improve equality in the justice system and legal education.

The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law, and the administration of justice. Members include some 37,500 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.

For accreditation and agenda details, please contact Hannah Bernstein at hannahb@cba.org.