Ronald St. John Macdonald

Ronald Saint John Macdonald (born  August 20, 1928 in Montreal , †  September 7, 2006 in Halifax , Nova Scotia ) was a Canadian lawyer who mainly devoted himself to maritime law and human rights . Among other things, he worked from 1961 to 1972 as a professor at the University of Toronto and from 1972 to 1990 at Dalhousie University in Halifax and served as dean at both universities for a time . In addition, from 1980 to 1998 he was the only non-European judge at the European Court of Human Rights . From 1979 he belonged to the Institut de Droit international and received honorary doctorates from several universities and in 2000, when he was accepted as a Companion in the Order of Canada, the highest civilian award in his home country.

Life

Ronald St. John Macdonald was born in Montreal in 1928 as a descendant of Scottish emigrants . He obtained in 1949 a BA at St. Francis Xavier University , and in 1952 a Bachelor of Laws at Dalhousie University in Halifax. In addition, he received a Master of Laws degree from the University of London in 1954 and a year later from Harvard University .

He completed his university career from 1955 to 1957 as a lecturer and from 1957 to 1959 as professor at York University , from 1959 to 1961 as professor at the University of Western Ontario , from 1961 to 1972 as professor at the University of Toronto and from 1972 to 1972 1990 as professor of international law at Dalhousie University. From 1967 to 1972 he also served as dean of the law faculty at the University of Toronto , and from 1972 to 1979 he held the same position at Dalhousie University. In 1990 he returned to the University of Toronto, where he remained as a Senior Scholar in Residence until 1994 . He also taught at the Hague Academy of International Law and was the first visiting professor of international law at Beijing University .

In addition to his academic work, he acted as legal advisor to the Prime Minister and the Foreign Ministry of his home country and, in this role, had an influence on Canadian foreign policy, particularly during the tenure of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau . He also represented Canada on several occasions in the General Assembly of the United Nations and at various international conferences. In the 1970s he assisted the government of the Republic of Cyprus as special advisor in the revision of the country's constitution after the occupation of the northern part of the island of Cyprus by Turkey in July 1974 as part of the Cyprus conflict .

From 1980 to 1998 he was also a judge at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg . He was nominated by Liechtenstein , which, like all contracting states of the European Convention on Human Rights, has the right to be appointed judge at the ECHR. In the history of the court, he was the only judge from a non-European country so far. From 1984 he was also a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration .

Ronald St. John Macdonald remained unmarried all his life and died in Halifax in 2006 at the age of 78 .

Scientific work

Ronald St. John Macdonald's scientific work focused in particular on the law of the sea and the protection of human rights . He has published over 60 articles in journals , around a third of them in the Canadian Yearbook of International Law , which he co-founded , and over 40 essays in compilations , around two-thirds of which in commemorative publications in honor of colleagues. He was also the editor or co-editor of eleven compilations.

Awards

Ronald St. John Macdonald was appointed Crown Attorney in 1968 and was inducted into the Order of Canada as an officer in 1984 . In 2000, when he was named Companion of the Order, he received the highest Canadian honor for civilians. From the Canadian Council on International Law , which he presided as founding president, he was appointed Honorary President and his life's work with the recognition in 1988 John E. Read medal awarded. In 1999 he received the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award of Law from the Canadian Bar Association . The McGill University , Dalhousie University and Carleton University appointed him an honorary doctorate . From 1979 he was a member of the Institut de Droit international , the American Society for International Law made him an honorary member in 1996.

Named after Ronald St. John Macdonald are the Ronald St. John MacDonald Award , which is given in Canada to the best team in the national elimination round for the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition , as well as that of the Canadian Council on International Law Ronald St. John Macdonald Young Scholars Award presented to students .

Works (selection)

• The Arctic Frontier. Toronto 1966
• Canadian Perspectives on International Law and Organization. Toronto 1974 (as co-editor)
• The International Law and Policy of Human Welfare. Alphen aan den Rijn 1978 (as co-editor)
• The Structure and Process of International Law: Essays in Legal Philosophy, Doctrine and Theory. Dordrecht and Boston 1986 (as co-editor)
• The European System for the Protection of Human Rights. Dordrecht and London 1993 (as co-editor)
• Towards World Constitutionalism: Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community. Leiden 2005

literature

• Donat Pharand: Ronald St. John Macdonald (1928–2006): In Memoriam. In: Aldo Chircop, Scott Coffen-Smout, Moira McConnell: Ocean Yearbook. Volume 21. Edited by the International Ocean Institute and Dalhousie University, Brill Academic Publishing, Boston 2007, ISBN 9-00-415755-7 , pp. Xix-xxii
• Christian L. Wiktor: The Publications of Ronald St. John Macdonald. In: Donald M. McRae (Ed.): The Canadian Yearbook of International Law. Volume XLIV (2006). University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 2008, ISBN 0-77-481460-8 , pp. 479-502
• Craig Scott: Ronald St. John Macdonald and International Legal Education (Profiles). In: International Law FORUM du droit international. 4 (4) / 2002. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, pp. 215-221, ISSN  1388-9036
• Ronald St. John Macdonald. 1928-2006. In: ASIL Newsletter. 22 (5) / 2006. Issued by the American Society of International Law, p. 16, ISSN  1049-7803
• Ron Csillag: Ronald St. John Macdonald, lawyer 1928-2006. In: The Globe and Mail . Published September 19, 2006

Web links

• Peter Busby Waite: Ronald St. John Macdonald ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved August 21, 2016.