38 Facts About Irwin Cotler

Irwin Cotler served as the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal government of Paul Martin lost power following the 2006 federal election.

The son of a lawyer, Cotler was born in Montreal, Quebec to a Jewish family.

Irwin Cotler then graduated from Yale Law School with an LL.

Irwin Cotler was a professor of law at McGill University and the director of its Human Rights Program from 1973 until his election as a Member of Parliament in 1999 for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Irwin Cotler has been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at Yale Law School and is the recipient of eleven honorary doctorates.

Irwin Cotler served on the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Development, as well as on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

Irwin Cotler recommended the appointment of two women to the Supreme Court of Canada: Louise Charron and Rosalie Abella, Canada's first Jewish woman Supreme Court justice.

In early 2005, Irwin Cotler intervened in the senate review of Canada's 2001 Anti-Terrorism Act, as mandated by section 145 of the bill.

On 18 January 2007, Irwin Cotler was appointed Critic for Human Rights by newly elected leader Stephane Dion.

Irwin Cotler was re-elected again in the 2011 election, fending off a serious challenge from former city councillor Saulie Zajdel, a longtime Liberal supporter running as a Conservative who lost by only 2,500 votes.

In May 2011, Irwin Cotler was named Justice and Human Rights Critic by interim Liberal leader Bob Rae.

Irwin Cotler chaired the Inter-Parliamentary Group for Human Rights in Iran, the Inter-Parliamentary Group of Justice for Sergei Magnitsky, and the All-Party Save Darfur Coalition.

In 2013, Irwin Cotler was chosen to represent the Liberal Party of Canada at the funeral of Nelson Mandela in deference to the work he allegedly did for and with Mandela in fighting Apartheid.

On 5 February 2014, Irwin Cotler announced he was not running in the 42nd Canadian federal election.

Irwin Cotler was one of thirteen Canadians banned from traveling to Russia under retaliatory sanctions imposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2014.

Irwin Cotler spoke at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy on several occasions.

Irwin Cotler is a past president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, a member of MEMRI's Board of Advisors, an Honorary Member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the Genesis Prize Foundation and is a board member of the Israel Council on Foreign Relations.

Irwin Cotler worked with a group of international jurists to indict Iranian President Ahmadinejad for incitement to genocide under the UN Charter and the Genocide Convention, saying that the Iranian government used anti-Jewish rhetoric similar to the Nazi Party.

Irwin Cotler chaired a commission called the "Responsibility to Prevent Coalition", which released a petition in 2009 entitled "The Danger of a Genocidal and Nuclear Iran: A Responsibility to Prevent Petition".

Irwin Cotler is an advisory board member of United Against Nuclear Iran and the Counter Extremism Project.

In 2012, Irwin Cotler advised Canadian foreign minister John Baird on rejecting the recognition of the State of Palestine during a United Nations meeting.

Irwin Cotler is a close friend of American lawyer Alan Dershowitz; the two met at Yale University in the 1960s.

In 2016, Irwin Cotler drafted the "'Never Again' Declaration", which has been signed by justice ministers, parliamentarians, jurists, and Luis Moreno Ocampo, former International Criminal Court prosecutor.

Irwin Cotler began representing notable prisoners with the Natan Sharansky case, who was imprisoned in the Soviet gulag for Jewish activism.

In 1977, Sharansky's wife asked Irwin Cotler to represent Natan when the two met in Israel.

Irwin Cotler went to the Soviet Union in 1979 to represent Sharansky, though he was deported.

The claim that Irwin Cotler was arrested or ever represented Mandela in any capacity has been disputed by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and two prominent South African lawyers, including a surviving member of Mandela's legal team.

However, in 1986, United Press International reported that Alan Dershowitz and Irwin Cotler were involved in an attempt to negotiate Mandela's release through a prisoner exchange.

Irwin Cotler went on to represent other imprisoned individuals, including Jacobo Timmerman in Latin America, Muchtar Pakpahan in Asia.

Saad Eddin Ibrahim, an Egyptian democracy activist imprisoned by the Egyptian government, was represented by Irwin Cotler and acquitted in 2003.

Irwin Cotler acted as counsel to Maher Arar during part of Arar's imprisonment and supported demands for a public inquiry.

Irwin Cotler has defended both Palestinians and Israelis against their own governments, and participated in a minor role in the Camp David peace agreement between Israel and Egypt.

In 2017, Irwin Cotler was then asked to join a panel of independent international experts designated by Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, to determine whether there was reasonable ground to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela.

Irwin Cotler became a step-father to Ariela's daughter Michal Irwin Cotler-Wunsh, who he adopted when the couple moved to Montreal, and the two had three other children; Gila, Tanya and Jonathan.

Irwin Cotler-Wunsh is an attorney and a PhD candidate in law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Irwin Cotler was a Member of the Knesset for the Blue and White alliance during the 23rd Knesset, from 2020 until 2021.

Irwin Cotler was appointed in 1992 as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Irwin Cotler received an honorary doctorate from McGill University on 30 May 2019, and gave the commencement address during the Faculty of Law's convocation ceremony.