In its announcement of the honorary degree, Johns Hopkins said Justice Abella is 'a persuasive and eloquent defender of human rights and is particularly known for her work in administrative, family, constitutional and labour law.'Tijana Martin
Justice Rosalie Abella of the Supreme Court of Canada will receive an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore this month, the first judge of the country’s top court to receive that recognition.
Justice Abella, 72, who joined the court in 2004 and is its longest-serving current member, has received 38 previous honorary degrees. Last year, she became the first Canadian judge to become an elected member of the American Philosophical Society, founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743. The previous year, she was named global jurist of the year by Northwestern Pritzker School of Law's Center for International Human Rights in Chicago.
In its announcement of the honorary degree, Johns Hopkins said Justice Abella is “a persuasive and eloquent defender of human rights and is particularly known for her work in administrative, family, constitutional and labour law.”
It described Justice Abella as “an outstanding and prolific scholar and globally recognized judicial leader” who has shown “a profound understanding of the role of law in shaping more inclusive societies and in changing individual lives.”
It cited her work as commissioner and author of the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in Employment, saying that she created the term and concept of employment equity and that the theories of “equality” and “discrimination” she developed were adopted by the Supreme Court.
The university describes Justice Abella, who was born in a displaced persons’ camp in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1946, as the first refugee to join the Canadian judiciary.
Sean Fine