Pearl Eliadis to Deliver the Vigod Memorial Lecture in Human Rights

7:00 PM
Kinsella Auditorium, MMH

Award-winning lawyer, educator and author Pearl Eliadis will deliver the 2024 Dr. Bernie Vigod Memorial Lecture in Human Rights, “Do Human Rights Commissions Work? Reflections for Canada.” The event will take place on October 22, 2024 at 7PM in the Kinsella Auditorium, McCain Hall.

Human rights commissions serve as norms-brokers, as institutional bridges among social actors, and as curators of a human rights culture. These statutory roles are often— sometimes vigorously— contested. At the same time, commissions have also been central to many of the milestones in Canada’s human rights evolution.

This lecture will update earlier work on Canadian human rights systems and review the controversies surrounding them as well as opportunities to reinforce their roles. Drawing on current research, the lecture will also review the literature on what we know about the effectiveness and impact of human rights institutions and on the disturbing trend of reprisals against them —and why the two might be connected. 

“In Canada, human rights commissions are often the most embattled and least understood agencies in the country. Instead of defending human rights systems as they are today, advocates, scholars and practitioners need to continue to stand up for the significance of these institutions and demand that governments respect their work and resource them properly,” Eliadis said.

Pearl Eliadis is an award-winning lawyer, author and educator. An Associate Professor (professional) at McGill’s Max Bell School of Public Policy, she teaches at the Faculty of Law where she is a full member of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism. Pearl is a member of the Law Society of Ontario and the Quebec Bar Association and currently serves on its Expert Group on Human Rights. She has a longstanding interest as a practitioner and scholar in human rights institutions. Her monograph, Speaking Out on Human Rights: Debating Canada’s Human Rights System (MQUP, 2014), remains a leading text on human rights commissions and tribunals. Pearl was an advisor in the development of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and as a practicing lawyer and advisor with national human rights institutions (NHRIs) in Ethiopia, Nepal, Rwanda, Tajikistan, Timor Leste and Sudan. She advises the UN on global principles and strategies to engage effectively with NHRIs, a current area of research and interest. Pearl is deeply connected with civil society organizations and is interested in policy evaluation work in the human rights field. Her contributions to human rights education, preventing homelessness, addressing equality law, and improving women’s rights and access to health have earned the Distinguished Service Award (McGill University Alumni Association (2024); “Human Rights Changemaker” award (Equitas, 2017), Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and the Canada 125 Commemorative Medal (Governor General of Canada).

Pearl completed her civil law and common law degrees at McGill University and her masters-level degree, the B.C.L., at the University of Oxford. Her most recent book is Policy Evaluation in the Era of COVID-19 (Routledge, 2023. Co-edited). She is based in Montreal.