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Beverley McLachlin, PC, LL.D, M.A., LL.B., BA (born September 7, 1943) is the Chief Justice of Canada, the first woman to hold that position.
Early life
Born in Pincher Creek, Alberta, she received a BA and a MA in philosophy and an LLB (winning the gold medal as top student) from the University of Alberta. She was called to the Bar of Alberta in 1969 and to the Bar of British Columbia in 1971. She practised law from 1969 until 1975. From 1974 until 1981 she was an Associate Professor and Professor with tenure at the University of British Columbia.
She has one son from her first marriage to Roderick McLachlin. Mr. McLachlin died in 1988. She remarried in 1992 to Frank McArdle.
Career as a judge
In 1981 she was appointed to the County Court of Vancouver and then to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. In 1985 she was appointed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal and in 1988 was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on March 30, 1989 and was made Chief Justice of Canada on January 7, 2000.
Upon being sworn in to the Supreme Court of Canada, she also became a Deputy Governor General of Canada together with the other justices of the Supreme Court.
When Governor General Adrienne Clarkson was hospitalized for a cardiac pacemaker operation on 8 July 2005, Madam Justice McLachlin served as the Queen's Administrator and performed the duties of the Governor General, including giving royal assent to the Civil Marriage Act, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. She relinquished that task when the Governor General returned to good health in late July.
She is the Chairperson of the Canadian Judicial Council, Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, and Board of Governors of the National Judicial Institute. She is a Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.
She has been awarded over 21 honorary Doctor of Laws degrees.
Judgments
During her early years on the Supreme Court, she was characterized as a judge with libertarian leaning after her dissent in R. v. Keegstra, finding that the hate-speech criminal offences were unconstitutional, and her judgment in R. v. Zundel where she struck down the criminal offence of speading false news. This was also seen to an extent in her decision of ''R. v. Sharpe' where she upheld the child pornography criminal provisions, but limited it by excluding imaginative works that are for private use.
Among her more controversial decisions was her ruling in R. v. Seaboyer where she struck down the rape shield law as it violated accused rapists their right to a fair trial. Critics who saw McLachlin as a ground breaker for the advancement of women, believed she had betrayed the cause.
As Chief Justice she has taken great efforts to inform the public of the nature of the judiciary and to defend its process.
See also
List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (McLachlin Court)
External links
- Supreme Court of Canada - Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin
- The Canadian Encyclopedia - Beverley McLachlin
1943 births | Living people | Canadian lawyers | Canadian legal academics | Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada | University of Alberta alumni | People from Alberta | University of British Columbia alumni | Scottish Canadians
"Beverley McLachlin"