John P. Humphrey

1973 Read Medal Recipient

O.C., O.Q.,B.A. (Mount Allison), LL.B. (McGill), Ph.D.(Paris)

John P. Humphrey, after practicing law, became a Professor at McGill University and lectured at the universities of Gale, Western Ontario and Toronto. In 1946, Professor Humphrey was appointed as the first Director of the Human Rights Division in the UN Secretariat, where he was the Principal Drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He remained with the UN for 20 years, and during this period he oversaw the implementation of 67 international conventions and the constitutions of dozens of countries. In 1988, on the 40th anniversary of the Declaration, Professor Humphrey was awarded the UN’s Human Rights Award. He retired from the UN in 1966 and resumed his teaching career at McGill University. Professor Humphrey remained active in the promotion of human rights in Canada and internationally, including participating in international commissions of inquiry, until his death in March 1995. He worked as a Director of the International League for Human Rights and served as a Member of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women. He was part of the team that launched Amnesty International Canada and, with colleagues from McGill, was instrumental in creating the Canadian Human Rights Foundation. Among his many honours, Professor Humphrey was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1974, “in recognition of his contributions to legal scholarship and his world-wide reputation in the field of human rights.”

Following his death, Professor Humphrey left a generous bequest to the CCIL, forming the basis for the Humphrey Fellowships.