Truth is elusive in criminal courts, says Louise Arbour

Don’t look to the justice system for absolute truth, a former Supreme Court justice told a recent audience at Dalhousie University.

Instead, Louise Arbour said, the courts can only work with the legal mechanisms they have to deliver justice.

“It’s important to recognize that truth, as we understand it, often doesn’t emerge through the court process,” Arbour said. “The rules of evidence and legal strategies can limit what is admitted, and these constraints ultimately influence the decisions the court makes.”

Arbour, one of Canada’s most respected legal minds, spoke candidly about the limitations of the justice system in a speech that addressed both contemporary legal challenges and ongoing debates about fairness and accountability.

“A trial is not simply a search for the truth — it is a structured legal process that operates within very specific constraints,” she said. “The rules of evidence, the strategies employed by the parties, and the resources available to them all shape the outcome.”

Arbour spoke at Dalhousie’s Schulich School of Law on Nov. 25 for the annual Horace E. Read Memorial Lecture.

Arbour was a Supreme Court justice from 1999–2004 and served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2004–08.

Nahlah Ayed, host of CBC Ideas, moderated the session, engaging Arbour on the challenges of reconstructing truth in an era marked by a “post-truth world”, particularly in the international legal context, where truth can be compromised by political and moral complexities.

Global human rights context: accountability vs. peace

Arbour compared the challenges faced by national legal systems with those in post-conflict societies. Her tenure with the UN exposed her to the delicate balance between justice and political realities in nations recovering from war.

“I’ve seen how trials in post-conflict settings, like in Rwanda or the former Yugoslavia, often become tools for political agendas, sometimes at the expense of true justice,” she said. “In some cases, trials are used to signal peace, not to uncover the full truth of what happened.”

Arbour made her comments amid the ongoing international debate about accountability for war crimes, especially in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Calls for international trials to hold Russian leaders accountable underscore the complexity of such efforts.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has documented extensive war crimes and human rights violations, including indiscriminate attacks on populated areas, summary executions, torture, and sexual violence in regions such as Kyiv and Kharkiv.

“While accountability is necessary, we must also acknowledge that trials in these settings may never fully reveal the truth, but they play a vital role in establishing legal and moral boundaries,” Arbour said.

She also cautioned against the dangers of imposing Western values on other judiciaries, remarking, “Values are very dangerous. When I talk about searching for the common ground and compromising and so on, when people put their values on the table, it’s the end of the conversation.”

Cyclical progress in rights

Arbour described the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the U.S. Supreme Court as a wake-up call that challenged her belief in the inevitability of progress.

“For the longest time, I thought progress was linear,” she said. “Now, I see it as cyclical. Nothing is safe, nothing is granted.”

She highlighted alarming global setbacks on gender equality, warning, “The language of gender equality is being systematically erased.”

She also said the fight for reproductive rights continues to present challenges. “We should not be quiet. Nothing is safe.”

Arbour pointed to Canada’s judiciary as a model of integrity, noting that decisions like abolishing capital punishment defied public opinion but maintained trust. “There’s faith in the integrity of the process that we need to preserve,” she said.

Global perspective

Arbour concluded with insights into the challenges faced by legal systems worldwide. From navigating justice in post-conflict societies to addressing the fragility of rights and values, her lecture underscored the complexities of balancing truth, accountability, and progress.

“The justice system is a mechanism for fairness,” Arbour concluded. “But we must acknowledge that it is not infallible, and we must remain vigilant in ensuring it serves its true purpose — to deliver justice, not just convictions.”

Arbour’s lecture sparked a lively discussion among Dalhousie law students and faculty, many of whom are grappling with how to ensure justice in an imperfect system. 

“Your insights into the limitations of the legal process were eye-opening,” said one Dalhousie law student to Arbour during the question-and-answer period. “It really challenged me to think about how we, as future legal professionals, can contribute to improving the system.”