Marlys Anne Edwardh, CM (born 6 March 1950) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

litigation and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

recognized for upholding the causes of justice and the rights of the wrongfully accused. She was one of the first women to practise criminal law in Canada.

Biography

Edwardh graduated from

Osgoode Hall Law School Osgoode Hall Law School, commonly shortened to Osgoode, is the law school of York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is home to the Law Commission of Ontario, the ''Journal of Law and Social Policy'', and the ''Osgoode Hall Law Journal ...

, holds a Master of Laws degree from the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university, research university system in the U.S. state of California. Headquartered in Oakland, California, Oakland, the system is co ...

, a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public university, public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to se ...

, and an honorary

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

in law from the

Law Society of Upper Canada The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; ) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; ), its name was changed by statu ...

. She was called to the bar in 1976. Edwardh has been involved in numerous high-profile Canadian criminal cases: *She fought to overturn the wrongful convictions of Donald Marshall, Guy Paul Morin and

Steven Truscott Steven Murray Truscott (born January 18, 1945) is a Canadian man who, at age fourteen, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1959 for the rape and murder of classmate Lynne Harper. Truscott had been the last known person to see her alive. He wa ...

. *She represented wrongly accused

Maher Arar Maher Arar () (born 1970) is a telecommunications engineer with dual Syrian and Canadian citizenship who has resided in Canada since 1987. Arar was detained during a layover at John F. Kennedy International Airport in September 2002 on his way ...

in the commission that investigated his

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and his subsequent

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

. *She served on royal commissions examining Canada's blood system ( Krever Inquiry) and the Parker Inquiry, which investigated conflict of interest charges against former Cabinet Minister Sinclair Stevens. *In 2000, she argued for freedom of the press on behalf of several Toronto news organizations ordered to hand over footage of police breaking up an anti-poverty protest at Queen's Park. In 2005 she led the opposition to Bill C-49 on

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

. Some of Edwardh's more recent high-profile cases include representing Mahmoud Jaballah and

Mohammad Zeki Mahjoub Mohammed Zeki Mahjoub () (also ''Abu Ibrahim'', ''Mahmoud Shaker'') is an Egyptian national who was arrested in May 2000 on a security certificate for his alleged membership in the Vanguards of Conquest. Although he has not been charged in Cana ...

, detained under highly controversial security certificate legislation, and Ronald Smith, a death penalty case involving complicated administrative and constitutional law. Other clients include the ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper and the flagship publication of the American-owned Postmedia Network. It is published Mondays through Saturdays, with Monday released as a digital e-edition only.

'' newspaper on a case waiting to be heard by the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...

regarding freedom of the press and the right to protect confidential sources. Edwardh rarely holds press conferences and is known to be generally reluctant in granting interviews. She was quoted as saying in 2002 that "a lot of the cases I take on, by their nature, generate coverage, but I draw the distinction between personal publicity, which I do not seek, and publicity for the cases I take on that I think have real importance and so attract attention." From 1976 to 2008 she was a partner with the law firm of Ruby & Edwardh (with Clayton Ruby) in Toronto, Ontario. In 2008 she formed her own firm, Marlys Edwardh Barristers, and has since joined the partnership of Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP. In 2005 she was the first recipient of the

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and con ...

Vox Libera award. In 2010, she was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

.Governor General announces 74 new appointments to the Order of Canada
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwardh, Marlys Living people 1950 births York University alumni Members of the Order of Canada UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Carleton University alumni Lawyers in Ontario Canadian civil rights lawyers Canadian women civil rights activists Canadian women lawyers