Mahmud Jamal’s journey to the Supreme Court of Canada

by Claire Loewen

On 1 July 2021, Mahmud Jamal, BCL’93, LLB’93, joined two other McGill Law graduates on the country’s highest court: Justice Sheilah Martin, BCL’81, LLB’81, and former dean Justice Nicholas Kasirer, BCL’85, LLB’85. Justice Jamal’s appointment was met with resounding praise from all corners of the legal world, including his fellow alumni and colleagues. They shared why they think he will find great success as a justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”).

Long before joining the SCC, Nicholas Kasirer was a junior professor at McGill, where he recalls being “thrust in classrooms to teach the virtues of the Civil Code to sometimes skeptical and occasionally inattentive upper-year common law students,” before the transsystemic program was implemented.

“I do remember an alarmingly bright and unusually kind Mahmud Jamal in Obligations, showing special politeness to me as a novice teacher,” Kasirer told Focus. “I have every hope that he will continue to show the same patience with me in our work together in Ottawa. I couldn’t be happier to have him as a colleague.”

Azim Hussain, BCL’00, LLB’00, a partner at NOVAlex in Montreal, noted that Justice Jamal’s appointment is significant on multiple levels. It continues the long tradition of having some of the country’s best legal minds on its highest court. Justice Jamal brings a broad expertise to the SCC, from commercial litigation and class actions to constitutional and public law.

“With an increasing proportion of the Canadian population being foreign-born and having origins outside of Europe, the presence of Justice Jamal on the SCC bench will allow more Canadians to see a reflection of themselves,” Hussain said.

The immersion of McGill-trained jurists in transsystemic thinking contributes to the Court’s ability to adjudicate cases from the traditions of the civil law and the common law, Hussain added, and to ensure a continued dialogue between them.

When she heard the news, Justice Alison Harvison Young, BCL’83, LLB’83, who was Jamal’s professor in law school and his colleague on the Ontario Court for Appeal, felt a deep sense of pride. During his student days at McGill, she watched Jamal blossom academically and as a member of the McGill Law community.

“He quickly emerged as a student who, although he did not say much, was very much worth listening to when he did have a question or comment,” she said.

She described him as having compassion and a keen sense of humour. When Jamal was appointed to the Court of Appeal two years ago, Harvison Young was delighted.

“I am sad to lose him as a colleague, but bursting with professorial pride to see him appointed to the Supreme Court. I know he will serve with distinction, and will be a superb, collegial, and compassionate member of the Court,” said Harvison Young.

(below) Mahmud Jamal’s graduation photo from McGill Law in 1993.