The 2024 Tang Prize in Rule of Law is awarded to Professor Mary Robinson to recognize “her powerful advocacy on behalf of the most disadvantaged in different spheres, including gender equality, poverty alleviation, human rights, and climate justice.” In particular, the Selection Committee noted “her passionate endeavors demonstrated an effective combination of legal acumen and practical solutions,” and noted that “from the national to the global stage, legal and political, she innovatively transformed and expanded the various positions in which she served, to strengthen the rule of law.”
Professor Robinson was born on May 21, 1944, in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland. She began her career as a legal professional in 1967, working as a barrister-at-law until 1980 and as a senior counsel until 1990 in Dublin. At the same time, from 1969 to1975, she was the Reid Professor of Constitutional and Criminal Law at Trinity College Dublin. Also, from 1969 to 1989, she served as a Senator, elected to represent the University of Dublin constituency, and from 1979 to 1983, she sat as a Member of Dublin City Council. In 1990, Professor Robinson was elected as the President of Ireland, a largely ceremonial position. After her presidency concluded in 1997, Professor Robinson continued her career internationally. She was appointed as United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights in 1997 and served in that role until 2002. From 2013 to 2014, she served as the UN Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, and from 2014 to 2015, she served as the UN Special Envoy on Climate Change. She was appointed as the UN Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate in 2016. She is currently the Chair (also a Founding Member) of the Elders, an independent group of global leaders established by Nelson Mandela in 2007 working together for peace, justice, human rights, and a sustainable planet. She also serves as a Member of the Supervisory Council of the European Climate Foundation and an Adjunct Professor for climate justice at Trinity College Dublin.
All the positions served by Professor Robinson have demonstrated how her career paths over six decades have ranged from legal to political realms and covered domestic and international levels. Over the years, she has been active in promoting rule of law in different spheres. The evolution of her roles, from being a litigator, a national leader, and finally a global voice, has expanded her focus from national and regional law to international law, and from civil and human rights to global justice.
Professor Robinson has consistently advocated for the rights of the most marginalized in different areas through her various positions. Her endeavors have been fearless and tireless. When serving as legislator, she introduced significant bills on gender equality and personal autonomy. As a litigator, she adapted novel arguments to support minority groups in a deeply conservative and Catholic country. Further, she innovatively transformed and expanded the positions she served to bring practical solutions to the community through effective implementation of her legal acumen. During her time serving as President of Ireland, she transformed the largely ceremonial role to speak for and to civil society, and such framework enlarged by her has lasted till the present days. She was also the first foreign Head of State to visit Somalia during the 1992 famine, and Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. Her passion was further shown when she worked for the UN. When serving as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, she advocated for the rights of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, supported the creation of the International Criminal Court, and focused attention on human rights abuses in Kosovo. She was also the first UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit Tibet in 1998.
Professor Robinson’s commitment towards the advancement of rule of law also drove her to engage in various non-governmental organizations and initiatives aside from her official roles. She served as the Secretary-General of the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance in 2001. She was also the Founding President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative which operated from 2002 until 2009. From 2010, she was the Founding Director of the Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice, a project to promote climate justice that came to its planned end in 2019. She also makes the most of her international participation and her current position in the Elders to address various issues such as human rights responsibilities of private actors including multinational corporations, child marriage, justice and gender dimension in climate change, fossil fuel phase-out, etc. It is noteworthy that all these commitments and efforts devoted to rights and justice have not stopped Professor Robinson to pursue her career as an academic. In fact, she has consistently contributed to the legal education since 1969 as a law professor, and she served as the Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1998 to 2019. She has given many distinguished lectures around the globe and has published widely on the topics of human rights and climate justice.
From a small town on Ireland’s Atlantic coast to the world stage, Professor Robinson has always championed the voiceless. Her contribution to the rule of law is unique by its nature. The positions she has served are varied, yet through her efforts they all aim towards the same goal, i.e., the realization of rights and justice. As a litigator and legislator, she advanced gender equality and personal autonomy. As a Head of State, she expanded the advocacy role of the office for her people, and drew global attention to the injustice of famine in Somalia and genocide in Rwanda. As a UN officer, she was an early critic of rights abuses in Guantanamo Bay. As an activist, she placed the gender and justice dimensions of climate change on the global agenda. That these causes have become part of the political mainstream is testament to her tireless efforts in support of the rule of law. All in all, she is a global advocate who innovatively combines a lawyer’s eye for legal detail, a legislator’s eye for practical solutions, and a human rights activist’s passion for justice. Her impacts transcend boundaries.
