Murray Miskin ADR

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Karman Sirleaf & Gbowee

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to three women: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman, for their work in advancing women’s rights and the role of women in peacebuilding efforts.  The award was presented on December 10, 2011.

The Nobel committee said that the women — two Liberians and a Yemeni — were being recognized for their “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

The committee said the world cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace “unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society.”

Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist, was elected president of Liberia in 2005, making her Africa’s first democratically elected female president.

“Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women,” said the committee.

The Liberian leader said Friday that the award gives her a “stronger commitment to work for reconciliation” in the war-torn West African nation.

“Liberians should be proud,” she said from her home in Monrovia.

The 72-year-old leader of the West African nation, which is working to maintain a fragile peace after a prolonged conflict, will face a test next week when Liberians head to the polls.
‘Symbol of hope’

Gbowee, a renowned Liberian peace activist and women’s rights advocate, said she hoped the award made a “loud statement” that the needs and priorities of women shouldn’t be ignored.
Leymah Gbowee is known for her work on peacebuilding and truth and reconciliation in Liberia, as well as her efforts to advance women’s rights across Africa. Leymah Gbowee is known for her work on peacebuilding and truth and reconciliation in Liberia, as well as her efforts to advance women’s rights across Africa. Michael Angelo/Wonderland

Gbowee, a trained social worker, was cited for her efforts in organizing women “across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia, and to ensure women’s participation in elections.”

She was also commended for her advocacy efforts and her push to enhance the role of women across West Africa.

Speaking from New York after the announcement in October, Gbowee said that she would have continued her work no matter what.

“My work is about survival for myself and for other women on the continent — it has nothing to do with awards,” she said. “With or without a Nobel, I’ll still do what I do, because I am a symbol of hope in my community, on the continent.”

Gbowee said she hoped the prize would help remind young women that “there’s nothing in this world that you determine to do that you cannot do.”

“Don’t let tradition stop you, don’t let socialization stop you, step out there and be the best you can be,” she said Friday.

The 39-year-old activist recently released a book, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War, which looks at the conflict in Liberia and how it shaped her goals and dreams.

The prize announcement came not long after the launch of her book, and Gbowee said she was looking forward to spending time with children, who range in age from two to 18.
Karman dedicates prize to Yemeni people

Karman, a 32-year-old activist and chair of Women Journalists Without Chains, has been working to promote human rights in Yemen for years. But when she was arrested in January, it helped kick off protests by hundreds of thousands demanding the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and the creation of a democratic government.

When the Nobel announcement was made in October, Karman was where she has been nearly every day for the past eight months — in a protest tent in Change Square, the roundabout in central Sanaa that has been the symbolic epicentre of the revolt.

“This prize is not for Tawakkul,” she told The Associated Press from her tent as she received congratulations from other activists. “It is for the whole Yemeni people, for the martyrs, for the cause of standing up to [Saleh] and his gangs. Every tyrant and dictator is upset by this prize because it confronts injustice.”
The Nobel committee said Tawakkul Karman played ‘a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.’The Nobel committee said Tawakkul Karman played ‘a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.’ Reuters

Her husband, Mohammed al-Nahmi, who was sitting with her in the tent, told AP, “This is a prize she deserves. Before she is my wife, she is a colleague, and a companion in the struggle.”

Thorbjorn Jagland, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, was quoted by the group on Twitter as saying “this year’s prize sends a message to the Arab world about democracy [and] women’s rights.”

The committee said it hoped that the 2011 peace prize winners would “help bring an end to the suppression of women that still occurs in many countries, and to realize the great potential for democracy and peace that women can represent.”

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon praised the winners and said the prize highlights the “vital role” women play in advancing peace, security, development and human rights.

The 2010 peace prize went to Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo, who is still serving an 11-year sentence in China for subversion.

U.S. President Barack Obama was the surprise winner in 2009.

The peace prize has been awarded 98 times to individuals and 23 times to organizations since 1901, according to the group. The youngest peace laureate was Mairead Corrigan, 32, and the oldest 87-year-old Joseph Rotblat.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has received the peace prize three times, in 1917,1944, and 1963.

Richard Holbrooke Peacemaker

We honor the passing on December 13, 2010 of the senior US diplomat Richard Holbrooke.  The late Richard Holbrooke served nearly 50 years in the United States Foreign Service.  He graduated at age 21 from Brown University in 1962 and became involved with the Vietnam war working for the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations. He played a significant role in the Paris Peace Talks to end the Vietnam War while still very young.  He was Ambassador to Germany and other countries. His biggest claim to fame is brokering peace in Bosnia  with the Dayton Peace Accords in 1995 while working for the Bill Clinton administration. Twice he was Assistant Secretary of State. At age 35, after Jimmy Carter was elected President he was made Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and some years later he was Secretary of State for Europe in the Clinton Administration.  He was also US Ambassador to the United Nations.  Richard Holbrooke was trying to negotiate a peace in Afghanistan as President Obama’s Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, when he died at age 69 following a suddenly torn aorta that occurred during a meeting over Afghanistan at the State Department.  He required major surgery from which he could not recover. On January 14, 2011 there was an inspiring memorial service for Richard Holbrooke held which included speeches by Former President Bill Clinton followed by his wife Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and it became clear that Richard Holbrooke has had a huge impact leaving a legacy unmatched by anyone in the recent history of diplomacy.
Richard Holbrooke was a great negotiator and a peace maker and the leading American diplomat of the past half century.  Let Richard Holbrooke set an example of public service and the urgency of peace, for us and our children.

Resolve Disputes

The legal system works well if you stay out of court. Court cases often take years and are very costly with no predictability for results. Justice does not always triumph.  If you settle a dispute you avoid the expense, delay and the risk.  It is worth giving up something in order to arrive at a settlement that you can live with.  When you give up something usually you get something in return and all parties to a dispute are able to get on with business or living their lives.  The mediation process is an ideal way to work out a settlement outside of court.  If mediation fails there is the option of arbitration where a privately chosen “decider” will make a decision that is binding on the parties.  The parties can select an arbitrator that they believe is best qualified to make a decision. It can be a person with a technical or business background in the area of the dispute rather than a judge who just happens to be assigned the case.  Also arbitration is usually cheaper, faster and more private than court.

Work it out and if you need help we are available to assist with mediation or arbitration services.

Listen to Albert - He knows.

Welcome to the USA and internationally focused website of Canadian lawyer Murray H. Miskin of Ontario, Canada.  This site is designed to promote co-operation in the Americas and especially between Canada and the U.S.A. We encourage international business relations and the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution to resolve disputes. For disputes between people and companies in different countries International Arbitration is generally better than court due to distrust of foreign courts and the better ability to enforce international arbitration awards under international treaties and agreements.  Mediation can also be very effective for international disputes as their process outside of mediation is full of uncertainty. Murray Miskin is an internationally recognized arbitrator and mediator who frequently travels to the USA and elsewhere.  He has been appointed Arbitrator by Courts in Canada and the United States and has been appointed Mediator by courts in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Miskin is an active member and past Board of Directors member of the Canadian Bar Association and the ADR Institute of Ontario and also belongs to the Inter American Bar Association. Murray Miskin has been the primary trainer of non-labor arbitrators in Ontario, Canada since 1985. For information on the Ontario, Canada arbitrator training course go to: http://adrworks.ca

For more details on Miskin Law Offices visit our parent site, which is http://adrworks.com

Working together for justice

Our law firm practices civil litigation primarily in Ontario courts but represents clients across Canada and internationally.  In Canadian courts Miskin Law Offices have represented U.S. and international clients who need to be in the Canadian Courts.  Murray Miskin has a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada where he graduated in 1979.  He has been a member of the Ontario Bar since 1981. Murray Miskin has been admitted to U.S. State courts “Pro Hac Vice” as a lawyer to represent Canadian clients on cases proceeding in the US.  Murray has worked with many US lawyers and clients on cases and has a network of contacts in the USA and around the world through the International Practice Group of the American Association of Justice. Our firm’s  work in civil litigation is mostly in areas of insurance litigation. The law office has associated lawyers who specialize in Family Law and Business Law.

Happy Thanksgiving USA

May this holiday be a peaceful one. Be thankful for what you have and the freedom you enjoy,