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Our Mission
Established in 1987, the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law serves as a centre for international human rights work, through which experienced lawyers, Faculty, and law students engage in meaningful social change.
As part of its mission in serving as a partner in international and domestic social movements, IHRP, through the supervision of its Director, Sandra Wisner, provides legal services to individuals, communities, non-governmental organizations, and lawyers to protect and promote international human rights before Canadian courts, regional and UN treaty bodies, and foreign courts and international tribunals, while providing supervised legal education and experience to University of Toronto law students. Specifically, law students engage with the IHRP through the for-credit international human rights clinic course, international summer fellowships, and/or volunteer opportunities such as Working Groups and our student-led Rights Review publication.
Drawing upon its unique position within Canada, the IHRP’s work aims to encourage the country’s adherence to its own international human rights commitments by ensuring accountability of its harms across the globe and those of third parties to which it is meant to regulate. The IHRP pursues change in the following areas: corporate accountability, climate justice, and Indigenous rights. Read more about our current clinic projects here.
You can read the IHRP's previous (2014) Strategic Plan here.
* Please note: The IHRP only selects projects through referrals from NGOs. We do not provide legal services to individuals without a referral from an NGO.