Faisal Kutty
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Faisal Kutty is a Canadian lawyer, writer and human rights activist. He was born in the Indian state of Kerala in 1968 and immigrated with his parents to Canada in 1975. He is the son of Shaikh Ahmad Kutty a prominent North American Muslim scholar.
Right wing commentators have alleged that he is suspicious [1], citing his legal representation of Benevolence International Foundation, Human Concern Foundation, IRFAN Canada, Jerusalem Fund for Palestinian Services as well as his involvement with CAIR and various individuals allegedly connected with terrorism. He is dubbed a favourite "terrorist" lawyer though no evidence as such has ever been produced. His father Shaykh Ahmad Kutty was also denied entry to the United States in September 2003 as national security threat.
Kutty studied economics at York University and entered law school at the University of Ottawa in 1991. He graduated with an LL.B. (cum laude) and during his studies served terms as book reviews and articles editor of the Ottawa Law Review. He went on to obtain a LL.M. from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in 2006 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in law at Osgoode. His dissertation explores the impact of anti-terror laws and policies on the rule of law.
He articled with a prominent Toronto law firm and then started his own practice in 1996. The practice went through various name changes over the years. He now practices under the firm name Kutty, Syed & Mohamed.
Kutty is a prolific writer. His articles have appeared in many of the leading Canadian and international publications including the Toronto Star, National Post, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Hamilton Spectator, Windsor Star, Edmonton Journal, Winnipeg Free Press, Counterpunch, Rabble, Indian Express, Arab News, Al Ahram, Law Times, The Daily Mail, Yemen Times, etc. He is a Canadian correspondent for the Washington Report and his work appears regularly in Lawyers Weekly. His work is archived at www.faisalkutty.com.
He is a regular commentator on anti-terrorism law, national security, constitutional law, human rights and the Muslim community in Canada. He has appeared on or been interviewed by hundreds of media outlets including PBS, National Public Radio, CBC, CTV, etc.
He is an instructor in the Skills and Professional Responsibility course in the Licensing Program administered by the Law Society of Upper Canada. He has also taught corporate/commercial law in the Bar Admissions Courses and legal research and writing at Osgoode Hall Law School.
Kutty has been a vocal spokesperson and advocate on human rights and the excesses of anti-terror legislation and policies. He co-founded the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association in 1994 while still a law student. He currently serves general counsel for the CMCLA. He is also the vice chair of the Canadian-Council on American Islamic Relations the leading Muslim advocacy group in Canada. Both the CMCLA and CAIR-CAN have been active in documenting hate and human rights violations of Muslims and in critiquing various legislative and policy initiatives in the “war on terror.”
Commenting on the Canadian government's apology and settlement offered to Canadian citizen Maher Arar by the Canadian government for its role in the U.S. "extraordinary rendition" of Arar to torture in Syria, Kutty wrote that it provides a unique opportunity to address the erosion of civil and human rights in Canada's own "War on Terror".
He is also a vociferous opponent of Canada’s soon to be released no-fly list known as Passenger Protect. He filed submissions against the initiative on behalf of more than two dozen groups titled “Too Guilty to Fly, Too Innocent to Charge?”
In 2006 the CMCLA and CAIR-CAN made history when they became the first Muslim groups to intervene in the Supreme Court of Canada in the security certificate cases of Hassan Almrei, Adi Charkaoui and Mohamed Harkat.
Kutty along with his partner Akbar Sayed Mohamed act for the CMCLA and CAIR-CAN in their intervention in the Commission of Inquiry into the Investigation of the Bombing of Air India Flight 182.
In December 2004, Marion Boyd released a controversial study that recommended that the Ontario government permit the adoption of sharia tribunals for Muslims who wished to have family arbitration disputes settled in that manner. Kutty commented on this report on behalf of various Muslim groups. In the wake of the Ontario government’s decision to ban faith-based arbitrations against the recommendations contained in the government’s own report, he wrote:
“Ontario lost a timely opportunity to show the world how to balance these competing rights in a manner that respects all parties and protects the vulnerable; and at the same time see how Islamic law and liberal democracy can co-exist within a liberal constitutional framework.”
He is married to Bushra Yousuf and has one daughter.
[edit] External links
- FaisalKutty.com
- Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association
- Council on American-Islamic Relation Canada
- Kutty, Syed & Mohamed
