Marjolaine Olwell
Lawyer
Available in: English Français Español
Marjolaine has experience in various types of law, from Québec civil law to Canadian aboriginal law to international public law and the law of international human rights.
Marjolaine es de Montréal, pero está practicando con el bufete a distancia desde Arizona, Estados Unidos. Marjolaine inició su carrera jurídica como auxiliar jurídica para la Corte de Apelaciones de Québec, su provincia, trabajando directamente para el Magistrado Clément Gascon. Posteriormente, continuó su trabajo legal en el campo de derecho indígena con un bufete jurídico. Marjolaine representó a varios individuos o colectividades indígenas, en casos que involucraban derecho penal, y constitucional. De igual manera, representó a sobrevivientes de abusos sexuales en el marco del “Acuerdo sobre Escuelas Residenciales Indígenas”. Subsecuentemente, Marjolaine fue a trabajar como abogada en la Relatoría sobre Derechos de Pueblos Indígenas de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, en Washington DC, Estados Unidos. Marjolaine es una mujer apasionada por diferentes áreas del derecho como el marco jurídico tanto canadiense como internacional que protege los derechos de los pueblos indígenas, derecho constitucional, derecho comparado, así como el marco legal procedimental de apelaciones. La enseñanza del derecho y dar capacitaciones son actividades que le generan gran motivación, al igual que presentar argumentos jurídicos ante tribunales. Marjolaine está actualmente cursando estudios de Doctorado en Derecho (SJD) en la Universidad de Arizona, en Estados Unidos, con énfasis en derecho comparado de los pueblos indígenas, donde además se desempeña como Profesora. Marjolaine trabaja como abogada en tres idiomas: francés, inglés y español. Adicionalmente, Marjolaine también habla portugués.
molwell@powerlaw.ca

Marjolaine is originally from Montreal, although she is now practising remotely from Arizona.

Marjolaine began her career as a clerk at the Québec Court of Appeals, working for Justice Clément Gascon. She then entered the field of aboriginal law, where she represented aboriginal individuals and communities in various penal and constitutional cases, as well as represented survivors within the “Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement”. Marjolaine then went on to work as a lawyer at the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Inter-American Human Rights Commission, in Washington DC.

Marjolaine is passionate about indigenous people’s law, constitutional law, comparative law, as well as procedure on appeal. She also enjoys teaching, workshopping, and pleading.

She currently is pursuing a Doctorate Degree in Law (SJD) in comparative indigenous people’s law at the University of Arizona, in the United States, where she also is a Professor of Practice.

Marjolaine practices law in French, English and Spanish. She also speaks Portuguese.

Law Societies

  • Quebec

Education

  • LLM (University of Arizona, Specialized program in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy - 2019)
  • LL.B. (Université du Québec à Montréal - 2011)
  • B.A. in International relations and international law (Université du Québec à Montréal - 2008)

  • Lawyer of the Year, Québec’s Young Bar Association (2014)

  • University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law (co-teaching with Professor Robert A. Williams Jr.)
    – Professor of Practice, Comparative Indigenous Peoples Law, Fall 2019
    – Teaching Fellow, International Human Rights Workshop, Winter 2019
    – Teaching Fellow, January in Tucson, Comparative Legal Systems & Their Role in Nation Building, January 2019

  • Presentation: United Nations Expert Mechanisms on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [EMRIP] Cooperation between UN and Inter-American Rapporteurships on IP Rights

  • Presentation: United Nations Permanent Forum on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples [UNPFII] Presentation on the work of the Rapporteurship in Brazil

  • Lawyers without Borders Canada, Guest Speaker
    – Guatemala City, Presentations on the IAHRS and participation in working meetings on various topics related to indigenous people’s rights (2019)
    – Port-au-Prince, Presentation on the IAHRS and its petition mechanisms (2019)
    – Port-au-Prince, Presentation on the IAHRS and its petition mechanisms (2018)
    – Guatemala City, Presentation on the IAHRS and its petition mechanisms (2018)
    – Guatemala City, Presentation of the Report
 “Indigenous Women and their Human Rights in the Americas” (2017)
    – Montreal, Annual Forum, “Reparations for victims of sexual assault and the Indian Residential schools SettlementAgreement”(2016)

  • Université du Québec à Montréal, Guest Speaker
    – Presentation of the standards contained in the Report “Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendent communities, and natural resources: Human rights protection in the context of extraction, exploitation, and development activities”, 2017

  • University of Ottawa, Guest Speaker
    – Presentation of the standards contained in the Report “Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendent communities, and natural resources: Human rights protection in the context of extraction, exploitation, and development activities”, 2017

  • George Washington University, Guest Speaker
    – Presentation in the “Human Rights Lawyering” class on “The Right to Defend Human Rights”
(2017)
    – Presentation in the “International Women’s Rights Law” class on “The situation of Murdered and Missing Aboriginal Women in Canada and the legacy of Indian Residential Schools” (2016)
    – Presentation in the “Human Rights Lawyering” class on “How to interview victims of sexual assault” (2016)

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