An Evening in Honour of Professor Robert Martin
Faculty and Administration Special Events
Robert Martin is the past-chairman of The Canadian Justice Review Board.
Professor Martin's publications include: Personal Freedom and the Law in Tanzania (1974), Controls and the Canadian Media (1978), Critical Perspectives on the Constitution, (1984), A Sourcebook of Canadian Media Law (1989), 2nd ed. (1994), Media Law (1997), Access to Information in Developing Countries (1998), Speaking Freely: Expression and the Law in the Commonwealth (1999). From 1985 to 2000, he was Secretary-Treasurer of the Commonwealth Association for Education in Journalism and Communication. In 1997 and 1999 he was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada
The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise's), an Army Reserve unit located in Hamilton, hosted a special presentation of medals on Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 8 p.m. in the Argylls Officers' Mess, at the John Foote Armoury, 200 James St North, in Hamilton.
Professor Robert Martin is retiring from the University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Law in 2005. As a token of the esteem they have for Professor Martin, the faculty borrowed the medals of Robert's father, Acting/Maj. Ivan Martin from Robert, and had them professionally mounted on the tartan colours of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The cherished medals were awarded to Maj. Martin who was killed-in-action in 1944 while playing a key role in one of the most significant battles of the war, the battle of the Falaise gap at St. Lambert-sur-Dives. He earned the American Distinguished Service Cross for his actions in that battle.
The newly mounted medals were presented back to Professor Martin in a befitting venue - the officer's mess of Maj. Martin's military unit. Honoured guests at the presentation were Professor Ian Holloway, Dean of Law at University of Western Ontario; J.L. Granatstein, Professor Emeritus at York University; and Ian Hunter, Professor Emeritus at University of Western Ontario.
Maj. Ivan Martin, Officer-Commanding B-Company with the 1st Battalion (A & S H of C (PL), died on 20 August 1944, at St. Lambert-sur-Dives during an intense enemy counter-attack. He was killed by an enemy shell while negotiating with a German medical officer on how to remove wounded German troops from Allied lines. Fellow officers remembered Maj. Martin as an inspirational leader who "distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism."
Professor Robert Martin graduated from the Royal Military College of Canada in 1961, and was commissioned in the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. After leaving the military, he earned an LLB in 1967. Professor Martin has become one of the foremost scholars of African law and constitutionalism. He has published extensively, including ten books.
Professor Martin has always
possessed the capacity for independent thought, along with sufficient
integrity to be willing to publicly express that thought. In the 1980's he was a member of the Board
of the
In the 1980's he became interested in the Commonwealth, which he found to be an admirable international organization. He participated in forming an organization., The Commonwealth Association for Education in Journalism and Communication (C.A.E.J.C.), of which he was Secretary-Treasurer from 1985 to 2000. The C.A.E.J.C. had 700 members in 35 different countries. It published a newsletter and a journal and organized conferences in Arus.
Left to Right: Professor Emeritus Ian Hunter, Dean Ian Holloway, Professor Robert Martin
Professor Martin was called to the Bar in 1978 and was elected a Bencher of the Law Society of Upper Canada in 1997. A year later, in September, 1998, he suffered a severe stroke which left him with a substantial physical disability. He has since been determined that his disability should not interfere with his performance. ,"The only political idea I have ever had, developed when I was seven, and has remained with me - I hate bullies and liars". Professor Martin speaks English, French and Swahili