Peter Leuprecht PHOTO: CLAUDIO CALLIGARIS

New dean an "Old World" hand

DANIEL McCABE | Life keeps steering Peter Leuprecht in unexpected directions. An international law expert and a self-described "European federalist," Leuprecht earned what must have seemed like a dream job in 1993 -- deputy secretary-general of the venerable Council of Europe. Four years later, though, he startled many of his colleagues by resigning from the post on a matter of principle. Recently his life took another unusual swerve. Leuprecht was at the tail end of a two-year stay at McGill as a part-time visiting professor in the Faculty of Law. He was making plans about what to do next when he was asked if he would mind being considered for the job of law dean. "It came out of the blue," he says. Soon after, he got the job, a position that in the past has been filled by such notables as Sir John Abbott, Maxwell Cohen and F.R. Scott. Leuprecht welcomes the challenge, but it has complicated his life somewhat. A Reporter interview in his office, for instance, is postponed for a few minutes as Leuprecht handles a phone call about his future living arrangements. "I didn't expect to stay [in Montreal] so long," he explains apologetically. When he was first approached about the deanship, Leuprecht hesitated. "I was clear about not wanting to stand in the way of any internal candidates. I've reached a stage in my life where I'm no longer running after jobs. If [my becoming dean] would cause any unrest or dissension, I didn't want the position." It was only after talking to the professors "who seemed most eligible for the post" that Leuprecht agreed to throw his hat into the ring. "They felt it wasn't their time right now." Fluent in five languages, the Austrian-born Leuprecht is one of the world's most respected authorities on human rights law -- he was part of a select committee of experts, along with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and former Irish president Mary Robinson -- that was asked to prepare a human rights agenda for the European Union for the year 2000. He says he is "getting positively excited" thinking about his new job, which begins next week. The Faculty of Law, with its strengths in both common and civil law and its bilingual approach, stands out as unique in the world, Leuprecht says. "I can tell you that there is great interest in what is going on at McGill outside the country, particularly in Europe." As the European Union draws countries with different legal systems closer together, McGill's expertise in that area attracts notice, says Leuprecht. One of his first tasks as dean will be to help implement the faculty's new transystemic curriculum -- which ties the teaching of the two legal traditions even more tightly together -- in the fall. "It is quite a challenge," acknowledges Leuprecht. He says the new curriculum is the result of "heated and difficult discussions in which I didn't take part." He thinks his arm's-length relationship with that process "may work to my advantage" if he needs to help smooth over any potential last-minute wrinkles amongst professors with different views. The new curriculum will be ambitious, but it poses difficulties. When McGill recruits new law professors, quality isn't the only concern; the professors also have to be comfortable working in both legal traditions, now more than ever. People like that aren't easy to find. "I think it will work," says Leuprecht of the new curriculum, "and it will project McGill even more onto the international scene. I'll certainly use the connections that I have for this purpose. "Law is becoming more and more internationalized. We're seeing more international agreements and more international law firms with offices around the world. There is also a growing international public service. People who have the skills to play a role in all this" -- like McGill law graduates -- "are highly valued."  Another urgent concern is to improve the law library's collections. "Now that we have a beautiful building, we need to fill it up." Leuprecht has taught law at the universities of Strasbourg and Nancy (France) and at the European Academy of Law in Florence, Italy. He had a long and distinguished career at the Council of Europe, a 50-year-old organization with 40 member-states that uses diplomacy and publicity to tackle some of the continent's most pressing concerns. After holding many positions in the organization, including director of human rights, Leuprecht was elected as the body's deputy secretary-general -- the number two position. There, he oversaw a staff of 1,600 and a wide range of projects in dozens of countries. "The nature of the job depends very much on the personality of the individual holding it," he explains. He led large-scale campaigns against racism and anti-Semitism, worked with countries from eastern Europe as they adjusted to democracy and focused on "confidence-building measures in civil society" in portions of the former Yugoslavia. "It was a very practical program aimed at getting people to live and work together despite their differences. In one region of Croatia, Serbs and Croatians continue to live together peacefully and I've heard from people there that, had it not been for the Council of Europe's involvement, things could have gone very badly in that region." So why did he leave? Leuprecht believed that the Council of Europe's standards were compromised by the decision to accept Russia (during the war in Chechnya) and Croatia as members. The Council was supposed to adhere to principles of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. He thought the new member-states fell woefully short of the mark. "These were principles and values that we were supposed to defend and these values were being watered down. That's why I left. I don't believe you can be a dissident and stay in government." When he departed, Leuprecht wasn't at a loss for opportunities. Well respected for his legal expertise and diplomatic acumen, he received several job offers from the U.S. But it was a trio of opportunities in Canada -- which nicely dovetailed with one another -- that appealed to him the most. He accepted part-time visiting professorships at both McGill and Université du Québec à Montréal and consulting work with the Canadian Department of Justice in nearby Ottawa. "Canadian society is still in many ways different from the U.S. society. Canada seems to be a more caring place, less tough, less violent," says Leuprecht of his decision to come here. His work with the federal government involves the "domestic implementation of international human rights law." Canada might have a reputation, in many other countries, of being something of an international boy scout when it comes to human rights, but that reputation is starting to get a little tattered. "On the one hand, Canada plays a leading role in areas such as the landmines treaty and the International Criminal Court," says Leuprecht. But the country is often slow when it comes to ratifying international human rights treaties. "There is a lot to be desired" on this front, explains Leuprecht, adding that Canada has come under increasing fire from such United Nations bodies as the Commission on Economic and Social Rights and the Human Rights Commission as a result. "There is a discrepancy between Canada's international role and its poor domestic implementation of these treaties that has to be overcome." He has more urgent concerns about Europe. He worries about the rise of intolerance and xenophobia in many countries there and says that European nations don't have a particularly proud track record when it comes to matters of asylum or refugees. That's part of the reason why he is so committed to human rights law on an international scale. While some may be cynical about the impact of such laws, Leuprecht says we have to take a "historical view" and remember how things have improved on the international scene since the introduction of such documents as the UN's International Declaration of Human Rights. "I take it as considerable progress that the notion that states should be held accountable for what they are doing on human rights has become so widespread and deeply ingrained. At the European level, every day, states have to present themselves to the European Court and justify themselves." Vice-Principal (Academic) Bill Chan chaired the selection committee that settled on Leuprecht. "He is well recognized internationally for his contributions to human rights and he is experienced in administration," says Chan. "But we were most impressed by his outlook and his familiarity with different legal systems. Peter is someone who can really help give the new curriculum a lot of credibility in the international arena."