Rosalie Silberman Abella (born July 1, 1946) is a Canadian jurist. In 2004, Abella was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, becoming the first Jewish woman and refugee to sit on the Canadian Supreme Court bench. She retired from the Supreme Court in 2021.

Early life and education

Rosalie Silberman Abella was born on July 1, 1946, the daughter of Jacob and Fanny (Krongold) Silberman. while her mother was born in Ostrowiec in 1917. Abella's older brother was murdered in the Holocaust. Her parents both survived, Jacob Silberman was liberated from Theresienstadt Concentration Camp, Fanny Silberman survived Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Jacob had studied law at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków and was appointed head of legal services for displaced persons in the US Zone of Southwest Germany.

From a young age, Abella was determined to become a lawyer. She attended Oakwood Collegiate Institute and Bathurst Heights Secondary School in Toronto, Ontario. She then attended the University of Toronto, where she earned a B.A. in 1967 and an LL.B. in 1970. She practised civil and criminal litigation until 1976, when, at the age of 29, she was appointed to the Ontario Family Court (which is now part of the Ontario Court of Justice) by then–attorney general Roy McMurtry, becoming both the youngest and first pregnant judge in Canadian history. She was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1992.

In 2004, Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed Abella to the Supreme Court of Canada. Abella became the first Jewish woman to sit on the court. She was eligible to serve on the Supreme Court until July 1, 2021, when she turned 75. In February 2021, she announced that she would retire on that date, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started the selection process of a new justice who would succeed her. Mahmud Jamal was selected as her replacement, and assumed office on July 1, 2021. Following her retirement from the Supreme Court, Abella has served as a visiting professor at Fordham University School of Law and Harvard Law School.

Abella is an authority on constitutional law and human rights law. Her opinions often cite foreign and international law. According to Sian Elias, they are regarded as authoritative by judges in many common law countries. Professor Avi Lewis, also Jewish, criticized Abella's statement as "detached from reality".

Personal life

Abella is the widow of historian Irving Abella,

National honours

  • Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), awarded to Canadians who made important contributions to their communities and to the country.
  • Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), a commemorative honour recognizing notable service to Canada.

Academic honours

  • Abella has received at least 38 honorary degrees.
  • Yale University honorary Doctor of Laws (2016). She became the first Canadian woman to receive an honorary law degree from Yale.
  • University of Saskatchewan honorary Doctor of Laws (2023).

Scholarly societies

  • Royal Society of Canada (Fellow, 1997), recognizing distinguished achievement in scholarship and public life.
  • American Philosophical Society (member, 2018).

Professional recognition

  • Global Jurist of the Year (2016), awarded by the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law Center for International Human Rights in recognition of Abella's influence on human rights law.

Other recognition

  • Abella has served as a judge for the Giller Prize.

Cultural recognition

  • The documentary film Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella, directed by Barry Avrich, premiered on May 1, 2023, at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

See also

  • Reasons of the Supreme Court of Canada by Justice Abella

References

  • Biography at the Supreme Court of Canada