David Matas
Encyclopedia
David Matas is the senior legal counsel of B'nai Brith Canada
. He has maintained a private practice in refugee, immigration and human rights law since 1979. He has published various books and manuscripts and currently resides in Winnipeg
.
and Romania
. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Manitoba
in 1964, and a masters of Arts from Princeton University
in 1965. In 1967, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) from the University of Oxford
, England, and in 1968 he obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law
. In 1969, he became a Middle Temple
United Kingdom
Barrister
, and he joined the Bar
of Manitoba
in 1971.
, and was special assistant to the Solicitor General of Canada
in 1971-72.
He served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly
, the Task Force on Immigration Practices & Procedures, the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on an International Criminal Court
1998, the Canadian Delegation to the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, and since 1997 the Director of the International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development,
at McGill University
, Introductory Economics, Canadian Economic Problems, International Law
, Civil Liberties
, and Immigration & Refugee Law
, at the University of Manitoba.
in the 1979
and 1980 federal election
s as a Liberal
candidate in Winnipeg—Assiniboine
district and came in second place both times.
He was named to the Order of Canada
on December 30, 2008.
in Canada, Director of Canada-South Africa Cooperation, Co-chair Canadian Helsinki Watch
Group, Director Manitoba Association of Rights & Liberties, Amnesty International
, B'nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Bar Association
, the International Commission of Jurists
, Canadian Jewish Congress
, and Canadian Council for Refugees.
He has represented Lai Changxing
in his extradition proceedings.
David Matas is the co-author of Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China, which alleges that since 2000 the Chinese government has been systemically harvesting organs from Falun Gong
practitioners. He is also counsel for Justice for Jews from Arab Countries and is co-author of "Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress." Legal Report
In 2009 David Matas was a signatory to a letter that opposed the appointment of Professor Christine Chinkin
to a UN Human Rights Council fact finding mission regarding the potential that Israeli and Hamas engaged in war crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza War on the basis that Chinkin signed a letter prior to the fact finding mission that Matas claims showed that she "concluded that Israel was acting contrary to international law." Chinkin was not dismissed from the fact finding mission and went on to help produce the Goldstone report.
In 2010 David Matas was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work related to the investigation of organ harvesting crimes against Falun Gong practitioners in China. News Report of Nomination
B'nai Brith Canada
B'nai Brith Canada is the Canadian section of B'nai Brith . It was founded in 1875 and is the country's oldest Jewish service organization.-Members:...
. He has maintained a private practice in refugee, immigration and human rights law since 1979. He has published various books and manuscripts and currently resides in Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
.
Education
David Matas was born in Winnipeg his grandparents were immigrants from the UkraineUkraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. He obtained a B.A. from the University of Manitoba
University of Manitoba
The University of Manitoba , in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is the largest university in the province of Manitoba. It is Manitoba's most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university. It placed...
in 1964, and a masters of Arts from Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 1965. In 1967, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) from the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, England, and in 1968 he obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law
Bachelor of Civil Law is the name of various degrees in law conferred by English-language universities. Historically, it originated as a postgraduate degree in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, but many universities now offer the BCL as an undergraduate degree...
. In 1969, he became a Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Barrister
Barrister
A barrister is a member of one of the two classes of lawyer found in many common law jurisdictions with split legal professions. Barristers specialise in courtroom advocacy, drafting legal pleadings and giving expert legal opinions...
, and he joined the Bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
of Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
in 1971.
Government work
Matas served as a Law Clerk to the Chief Justice Supreme Court of Canada in 1968-69, and was a member of the Foreign Ownership Working Group, Government of CanadaGovernment of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
, and was special assistant to the Solicitor General of Canada
Solicitor General of Canada
The Solicitor General of Canada was a position in the Canadian ministry from 1892 to 2005. The position was based on the Solicitor General in the British system and was originally designated as an officer to assist the Minister of Justice...
in 1971-72.
He served as a member of the Canadian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
, the Task Force on Immigration Practices & Procedures, the Canadian delegation to the United Nations Conference on an International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
1998, the Canadian Delegation to the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust, and since 1997 the Director of the International Centre for Human Rights & Democratic Development,
Teaching work
Mr. Matas has also taught constitutional lawConstitutional law
Constitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, Introductory Economics, Canadian Economic Problems, International Law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
, Civil Liberties
Civil liberties
Civil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
, and Immigration & Refugee Law
Immigration law
Immigration law refers to national government policies which control the phenomenon of immigration to their country.Immigraton law, regarding foreign citizens, is related to nationality law, which governs the legal status of people, in matters such as citizenship...
, at the University of Manitoba.
Politics
He ran for the Canadian House of CommonsCanadian House of Commons
The House of Commons of Canada is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Sovereign and the Senate. The House of Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 308 members known as Members of Parliament...
in the 1979
Canadian federal election, 1979
The Canadian federal election of 1979 was held on May 22, 1979 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 31st Parliament of Canada. It resulted in the defeat of Liberal Party of Canada after 11 years in power under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Joe Clark led the Progressive...
and 1980 federal election
Canadian federal election, 1980
The Canadian federal election of 1980 was held on February 18, 1980 to elect members of the Canadian House of Commons of the 32nd Parliament of Canada...
s as a Liberal
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
candidate in Winnipeg—Assiniboine
Winnipeg—Assiniboine
Winnipeg—Assiniboine was a federal electoral district in Manitoba, Canada, that was represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1979 to 1988.This riding was created in 1976 from parts of Portage, Winnipeg South and Winnipeg South Centre ridings...
district and came in second place both times.
He was named to the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
on December 30, 2008.
Human rights work
He has been actively involved as Director of the International Defence & Aid Fund for South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in Canada, Director of Canada-South Africa Cooperation, Co-chair Canadian Helsinki Watch
Helsinki Watch
Helsinki Watch was a private American NGO devoted to monitoring Helsinki implementation throughout the Soviet bloc. It was created in 1978 to monitor compliance to the Helsinki Final Act...
Group, Director Manitoba Association of Rights & Liberties, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, B'nai Brith Canada, the Canadian Bar Association
Canadian Bar Association
The Canadian Bar Association represents over 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.-History:The Association's first Annual Meeting was held in Montreal in 1896. However, the CBA has been in continuous existence in its present form since 1914...
, the International Commission of Jurists
International Commission of Jurists
The International Commission of Jurists is an international human rights non-governmental organization. The Commission itself is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists , including members of the senior judiciary in Australia, Canada, and South Africa and the former UN High Commissioner for Human...
, Canadian Jewish Congress
Canadian Jewish Congress
The Canadian Jewish Congress was one of the main lobby groups for the Jewish community in the country, although it often competed with the more conservative B'nai Brith Canada in that regard. At its dissolution, the president of the CJC was Mark Freiman. Its past co-presidents were Sylvain Abitbol...
, and Canadian Council for Refugees.
He has represented Lai Changxing
Lai Changxing
Lai Changxing began as a Chinese businessman and entrepreneur from Jinjiang, Fujian, People's Republic of China. He was the founder and Chairman of the lucrative Yuanhua Group in the Special Economic Zone of Xiamen. At his height he has been credited with converting China from communism to...
in his extradition proceedings.
David Matas is the co-author of Report into Allegations of Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China, which alleges that since 2000 the Chinese government has been systemically harvesting organs from Falun Gong
Falun Gong
Falun Gong is a spiritual discipline first introduced in China in 1992 by its founder, Li Hongzhi, through public lectures. It combines the practice of meditation and slow-moving qigong exercises with the moral philosophy...
practitioners. He is also counsel for Justice for Jews from Arab Countries and is co-author of "Jewish Refugees from Arab Countries: The Case for Rights and Redress." Legal Report
In 2009 David Matas was a signatory to a letter that opposed the appointment of Professor Christine Chinkin
Christine Chinkin
Christine Chinkin is a Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science and theWilliam W. Cook Global Law Professor at the University of Michigan Law School. She is a member of the four person United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict created by...
to a UN Human Rights Council fact finding mission regarding the potential that Israeli and Hamas engaged in war crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza War on the basis that Chinkin signed a letter prior to the fact finding mission that Matas claims showed that she "concluded that Israel was acting contrary to international law." Chinkin was not dismissed from the fact finding mission and went on to help produce the Goldstone report.
In 2010 David Matas was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work related to the investigation of organ harvesting crimes against Falun Gong practitioners in China. News Report of Nomination
External links
- Biography on Canadian Jewish Law Students Association site
- Biography on B'nai Brith Canada site
- Aftershock: Anti-Zionism & Antisemitism by David Matas (Dundurn(Toronto),2005)