Conference to mark the retirement of the Honourable Rosalie Abella (2022)

Overview

This two-day conference will bring together judges, lawyers, academics and law students to mark the significant contributions of the Honourable Justice Rosalie Abella to Canadian law and the administration of justice. The conference will provide a unique opportunity for participants, and for judges especially, to engage with Justice Abella’s extensive jurisprudence and contributions by presenting and discussing research inspired by her work.

Objectives

• Bring together judges, lawyers, academics, and students to explore the contributions of Justice Abella to Canadian law and to the administration of justice;
• Increase awareness of the contributions made by Justice Abella to the Canadian legal landscape;
• Provide training and mentorship to law students and graduate students by including them in the organization and participation in the conference as research assistants, conference participants and presenters;
• Produce a book-length peer-reviewed edited collection on Justice Abella’s contributions to Canadian law and the administration of justice.

Summary

Justice Abella had a storied career before joining Canada’s Supreme Court—as a practising lawyer, a family court judge, law reformer (Chair of the Ontario Law Reform Commission), labour adjudicator (Chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board), law professor (McGill Faculty of Law) and commission of inquiry head. She has left her imprint on the Supreme Court of Canada, the law in Canada and around the world and on Canada as a nation and as a global ambassador for Canadian values and jurisprudence.