Jurist pledges to lift human rights institute
THE former justice of the High Court in Australia, Michael Kirby, has pledged to contribute to the work of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI).
He made this pledge during his appointment as the cochair for IBAHRI.
His words: “‘I am delighted to be stepping into the role of Co-chair for the IBAHRI. I have been working with the Institute for many years and have seen the impact of its work close up.
“I look forward to continuing to contribute to it and working alongside my CoChair, Hans Corell, who I have known since we worked together on the drafting of the 1980 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Privacy Guidelines.
“I know that we are both dedicated to practical outcomes and, in the year of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it will be essential for us to grapple with both old and new challenges.”
Kirby added that he would also like to take the opportunity to thank Baroness Helena Kennedy for her serv- ices to the IBAHRI and her last six years as co-chair of the council.
Kirby has had a long and distinguished career as a jurist, having served as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission (1975-1983); Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-1984); Judge of the Federal Court of Australia (1983-1984); President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal (1984-1996); President of the Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands (1995-1996); and Justice of the High Court of Australia (1996-2009). In addition, Kirby has undertaken many international activities for the UN, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the OECD and The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He has worked in civil society, having been elected as President of the International Commission of Jurists.
Recently, he acted as Commissioner of the UN Development Programme Global Commission on HIV and the Law, Chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea and was a member of the High-level Panel on Access to Essential Healthcare, convened in 2015 by the then UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon.