OTTAWA, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Tuesday that he recommended Louise Arbour to serve as the 31st Governor General of Canada, a recommendation that has been accepted by King Charles III of the United Kingdom.

Arbour is a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada and has also served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

Born in Montreal, Arbour is fluently bilingual in English and French. She will succeed Mary Simon, Canada's first Indigenous governor general, to serve as the King's representative and commander-in-chief of the Canadian Armed Forces.

As a Commonwealth country, Canada's head of state is the British monarch. The governor general acts as the monarch's representative in the country and is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Canadian prime minister for a five-year term. ■