Michael Moldaver
| The Honourable Michael J. Moldaver | |
|---|---|
| Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada | |
|
Assumed office October 21, 2011 | |
| Nominated by | Stephen Harper |
| Preceded by | Ian Binnie/Louise Charron |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 23, 1947 Peterborough, Ontario |
| Alma mater |
University of Toronto University of Toronto Faculty of Law |
| Occupation | Jurist |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Judaism |
Michael Moldaver (born December 23, 1947) is a Canadian judge on the Supreme Court of Canada.
Education and early career
Moldaver was born on December 23, 1947 in Peterborough, Ontario, where his father was a scrap dealer and his mother was the city's first rabbi.[1] Justice Moldaver earned a B.A. from the University of Toronto, before completing his legal training at the school's Faculty of Law, where he graduated in 1971 as a Gold Medalist. He articled for Goldwyn Arthur Martin, a leading criminal defence lawyer.[1]
He was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1973. While in practice, he specialized in criminal law[2][3] and at one time partnered with Edward Greenspan.
Judicial career
Justice Moldaver was appointed to the High Court of Justice of the Supreme Court of Ontario (now known as the Superior Court of Justice) in 1990, and was subsequently elevated to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1995. While at the Court of Appeal, Moldaver was known as one of its most outspoken members and was considered an expert on criminal law.[4] While on the Ontairo Court of Appeal, he complained that sometimes criminal defence lawyers would “trivialize” the Charter of Rights and Freedoms out of monetary self-interest by arguing for unnecessary rights claims.[1]
On October 17, 2011, he was nominated by Stephen Harper, along with fellow Ontario Court of Appeal judge Andromache Karakatsanis to the Supreme Court of Canada.[5][6][7][8]
In 2013, Moldaver gave the majority 4-3 ruling in R v Mackenzie, arguing that every single police move should not be “placed under a scanning electron-microscope” to uphold a police search and seizure action. In the 6-3 ruling in the 2015 case of R v Nur, he wrote the dissent, arguing that the court should have upheld the three-year mandatory minimum sentence for illegal gun possession to avoid judicial activism. Moldaver also wrote the lone dissent in Reference re Supreme Court Act, 2014, supporting Stephen Harper's decision to appoint Marc Nadon to the Supreme Court.[1]
Personal life
Married four times, Justice Moldaver has two daughters.[9][10][4]
See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 Fine, Sean (October 3, 2016). "Canada's bench strength: Meet the judges, new and old, of the Supreme Court". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Brief Biographical Note of Justice Michael J. Moldaver". Court of Appeal for Ontario. Archived from the original on 2008-05-19. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ↑ Supreme Court of Canada biography
- 1 2 "Justice Michael Moldaver, one of two Ontario judges nominated to the Supreme Court on Monday, isn't shy about speaking up.". The Toronto Star. 2011-10-17. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ↑ Kirk Makin (17 October 2011). "Harper picks two Ontario appeal judges to fill Supreme Court vacancies". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ↑ Meagan Fitzpatrick (17 October 2011). "Supreme Court judge nominees named by Harper". CBC. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
- ↑ Robert Fife (16 October 2011). "Prime minister to announce 2 Supreme Court nominees". CTV News. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ↑ Kirk Makin (16 October 2011). "Harper to appoint Ontario judges Karakatsanis and Moldaver to Supreme Court: CTV". Toronto: The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ↑ Affairs, Legal (17 October 2011). "Moldaver 'a force to be reckoned with'". The Star. Toronto.
- ↑ Affairs, Legal (14 November 2011). "Michael Moldaver's climb to top court had blue-collar beginnings". The Star. Toronto.
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