Mahmud Jamal nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada

The Faculty of Law is pleased to announce that the Honourable Mahmud Jamal, BCL’93, LLB’93, has been nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Jamal will replace Justice Rosalie Abella, LLD’99, on her retirement on 1 July 2021.

Justice Jamal will join two other McGill Law alumni on the country’s highest court: Justice Sheilah Martin, BCL’81, LLB’81, and former dean Justice Nicholas Kasirer, BCL’85, LLB’85, appointed in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

A proud alumnus, Justice Jamal told Focus magazine in 2019 that McGill’s bijuridical program and comparative approach, which mirrored his background and upbringing, drew him to study here. Justice Jamal served on the editorial board for volumes 36 and 37 of the McGill Law Journal and taught constitutional law at the Faculty of Law in 1999-2000.

After more than 20 years practicing litigation at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP in Toronto, he was appointed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2019.

“Justice Jamal will bring to the Court his unquestionable acumen as a jurist and – as a first-generation Canadian having lived in several provinces and advocated for a broad range of groups – a rich and deep perspective,” says Dean Robert Leckey. “It’s proof of the strength and truly national character of legal education at McGill that there will soon be three graduates of our National Program – the predecessor to our integrated McGill Program – appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada from three provinces.”