Julius Isaac, first Black Chief Justice in Canada dies

I remember appearing before Justice Issac many times when he was an Ontario judge and a few times in Federal Court. He was a slow and careful judge; some (perhaps with unconscious racism?) saw that as him being thick. He was far from that -- he had a keen legal mind and would see the implications of arguments and was often steps ahead of the lawyers who appeared before him.

He was a hands on judge (something that got him into trouble); I remember getting a call from "Julius" and thinking "who is that"? I was taken aback when I realized it was the judge I had on a case who didn't want to wait for something and just telephoned me to get it.

He genuinely cared about the substance of the matters before him and was impatient with unnecessary process.

In 1997 he asked the Crown why certain war crimes cases were taking so long. That inquiry was seen by some as overstepping his role as judge and he was heavily criticised. My sense is that his inquiry was of a piece with the man -- someone who cared about justice and wanted to see it done properly.

Julius Isaac was a truly great Canadian and he will be missed.

http://bit.ly/rufh1u


Canada has lost a brilliant legal mind, a pillar of its black community, a “thoughtful and kind” man.

Julius Isaac, Canada’s first black chief justice, died Saturday after a long battle with progressive supranuclear palsy, a rare degenerative brain disease. He was two days shy of his 83rd birthday.

Isaac was appointed chief justice of the Federal Court of Canada in 1991 by then-prime minister Brian Mulroney.

“It was a groundbreaking appointment,” said John Cooper, who is researching a book on Isaac. “[Mulroney] said that he considered it one of the most important appointments he made in the justice system.”

Born in 1928 in St. David’s, Grenada, Isaac arrived in Toronto in 1951, where he lived with an uncle on Mitchell Ave. and pursued an undergraduate degree at St. Michael’s College, Cooper said.