Robert James Sharpe, OC, FRSC (born December 4, 1945) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

lawyer, author, academic, and judge. He was dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law from 1990 to 1995 and a judge of the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

from 1999 to 2020.

Early life

Robert James Sharpe was born on December 4, 1945, in

Brantford Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County, but is politically separate with ...

, Ontario, to Eleanor Jane (Cooper) and Ira Sutherland Sharpe. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

in 1966, a Bachelor of Laws from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in 1970, and a DPhil from the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

in 1974.

Legal career

He was called to the bar of Ontario in 1974 and practised law with the firm of MacKinnon, McTaggart (later McTaggart, Potts, Stone & Herridge) in the area of civil litigation. He taught at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law from 1976 to 1988. From 1988 to 1990, he was the Executive Legal Officer at the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

under Chief Justice Brian Dickson. From 1990 to 1995, he was the Dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. In 1995, he was appointed to the Ontario Court of Justice (General Division) (now the Superior Court of Justice). In 1999, he was appointed to the

. From 2011 to 2021, he was Visiting Professor at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Sharpe retired from the judiciary on February 28, 2020. After leaving the bench, he joined

Arbitration Place Arbitration Place is an internationally affiliated arbitration facility and legal centre located in the Bay-Adelaide Centre, in Toronto, Canada. Profile Arbitration Place hosts domestic and international arbitrations and facilitates these arbitr ...

and rejoined the University of Toronto Faculty of Law as Distinguished Jurist in Residence. He was President of th
Canadian Institute for Advanced Legal Studies
from 2014 to 2020, and is currently the President of th
Osgoode Society for Legal History.

Selected works

* ''The Law of Habeas Corpus'' (1976) *
Injunctions and Specific Performance
' (1983) (Canadian Bar Association’
Walter Owen Book Prize
(5th ed, 2017) * ''Charter Litigation'' (1987) (Editor) *
The Last Day, The Last Hour: The Currie Libel Trial
' (1988)
''The Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (with Kent Roach)
(7th ed 2021)
''Brian Dickson: A Judge’s Journey'' (with Kent Roach)
(2003)
John Wesley Dafoe Prize

''The Persons Case: The Origins and Legacy of the Fight for Legal Personhood'' (with Patricia McMahon)
(2007) (Canadian Law and Society Book Prize) *
The Lazier Murder: Prince Edward County, 1884
' (2011) (Ontario Historical Association Fred Landon Book Prize) *
Good Judgment: Making Judicial Decisions
' (2018)

Notable judgments

In 2001, Robert Sharpe wrote th
reasons of the Ontario Court of Appeal that recognized the distinctive legal rights of Métis people
In November 2007, the

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

reported that "In a decision ritten by Justice Sharpe on behalf of a panel comprising himself and Justices Karen Weiler and Robert Blair/nowiki> described as a major breakthrough for freedom of the press in Canada, the

Ontario Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

] chiselled out what it calls a "new and distinctive" defence for journalists reporting on matters of public significance. In 2012, he wrote the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision that established the right to sue for invasion of privacy.

Honours and awards

Sharpe was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

in 1991. He was awarded the Ontario Bar Association Distinguished Service Award in 2005, and in 2008 he was awarded the Mundell Medal which celebrates excellence in legal writing by Ontario authors who have made a distinguished contribution to law and letters. In 2021, he received honorary doctorate degrees from the

Law Society of Ontario The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the law society responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; frenc ...

and the University of Windsor. And in 2020 he was recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Sharpe was appointed to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in June 2023, with the rank of Officer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpe, Robert 1945 births Living people Alumni of the University of Oxford Canadian legal writers Canadian university and college faculty deans Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Justices of the Court of Appeal for Ontario Judges in Ontario Lawyers in Ontario Writers from Brantford Academic staff of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law University of Western Ontario alumni University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni Officers of the Order of Canada Writers from Toronto