News
The Hon. Madam Justice Rosalie Abella ’70 sworn in to Supreme Court
The Hon. Madam Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella, a 1970 alumnus of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, was sworn in to the Supreme Court of Canada along with the Hon. Madam Justice Louise Charron. The Hon. Justice Abella graduated from the University of Toronto law school in 1970, and the Hon. Justice Charron from the University of Ottawa in 1975.
Dean Ron Daniels welcomed her appointment as a tremendous moment for both the country and for the U of T Faculty of Law. "Rosie is an extraordinary Canadian. We are enormously delighted that one of our most celebrated and beloved alumni is our first female graduate to be appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. Her unwavering commitment to social justice and human rights places her among the most important graduates our law school has ever produced. She embodies our highest ideals and aspirations," says Dean Daniels.
After being called to the Bar of Ontario in 1972, the Hon. Justice Abella practiced civil and criminal litigation until she was appointed to the Ontario Family Court in 1976 at just 29 years old, making her the youngest woman ever to be appointed to the bench in Canada. She was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 1992.
The Hon. Justice Abella is well known for her human rights expertise as the sole Commissioner and author of the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, in which she created the term and concept of “employment equity”.
One of the Supreme Court positions became available after the Hon. Frank Iacobucci, a former dean of the law school and an honorary graduate (1989), retired in June 2004. He is now Interim President of the University of Toronto.
For a full biography on the Hon. Justice Abella, please see:
http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/court_of_appeal/judges/bio/abella.htm
For a full biography on the Hon. Justice Charron, please see:
http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/court_of_appeal/judges/bio/charron.htm
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