Faisal Kutty

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.

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 an 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 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 [http://KSMLaw.ca Kutty, Syed & Mohamed] .

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 (CAIR-CAN), a Muslim advocacy organization in Canada.

He is an 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 “ [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=962797 Too Guilty to Fly, Too Innocent to Charge?] ”

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 [http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&articleid=20] commented on this report on behalf of various Muslim groups. The Ontario government’s decided not to allow religious-based arbitrations.

He is married to Bushra Yousuf and has one daughter.

External links

* [http://www.FaisalKutty.com FaisalKutty.com]
* [http://CMCLA.org Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association]
* [http://CAIRCan.ca Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations]

See also

*Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act (Bill C-36)
*Civil Liberties