On June 17, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau nominated Justice Mahmud Jamal as the next member of the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Jamal will fill the seat left by Justice Rosalie Abella, who is retiring after having served on the Supreme Court for 17 years.
The nomination of a new judge to the Supreme Court is always a significant development and the nomination of Justice Jamal is no exception. Justice Jamal had a distinguished career in private practice before becoming a judge. He worked at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP practising in a variety of areas, including constitutional law, class actions, competition law, and administrative law. Justice Jamal was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in June 2019 and has taught at Osgoode Hall and McGill University.
In addition to Justice Jamal’s impressive experience, he also brings a unique perspective to the bench. Justice Jamal was born in Nairobi, Kenya to a family originally from India. His parents moved to the United Kingdom shortly after his birth and later moved to Canada. Justice Jamal describes growing up with a hybrid religious and cultural upbringing – raised at school as Christian and at home, as Muslim. He identified as one of four racialized judges on the Ontario Court of Appeal and the first racialized judge to be nominated to the Supreme Court.
Justice Jamal is no stranger to the Supreme Court. In his practice, he appeared as counsel before the Supreme Court in 35 appeals. In addition, Justice Jamal also served as a law clerk to Justice Charles Gonthier of the Supreme Court between 1994 and 1995. Of course, the difference between appearing as counsel or working as a law clerk at the Supreme Court, and serving as judge of the Supreme Court will be significant. Justice Jamal has big shoes to fill with the departure of Justice Abella, but there is no doubt he will make his own unique impression on the Supreme Court. We very much look forward to seeing Justice Jamal’s impact on the Supreme Court and reading his decisions.
