Selwyn Romilly (1939/1940 – 22 September 2023) was a Canadian judge. He was appointed to the

Supreme Court of British Columbia The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judici ...

in November 1995, becoming the first black judge named to that court.

Early life

Romilly was born in 1939 or 1940, in

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

. He attended the

Queen's Royal College Queen's Royal College (St Clair, Port of Spain, St.Clair, Trinidad), referred to for short as QRC, or "The College" by alumni, is a secondary school in Trinidad and Tobago. Originally a boarding school and grammar school, the Secularity, secular c ...

Port-of-Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

and shortly thereafter immigrated to Canada.

Education

Romilly received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

from

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

(UBC) and entered law school in 1963, earning his

LLB A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from the Peter A. Allard School of Law in 1966. At the time, Romilly was only the fourth Black student to have entered law at UBC.

Law career

Following his education, Romilly practised as a lawyer from 1967 until 1974. He first worked in

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

, and then

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

. He eventually relocated to

Smithers Smithers is a surname of English origin. It derives from the Middle English term "smyther", referring to a metalsmith, and is thus related to the common occupational surname Smith. The name Smither is related. People * Alan Smithers (born 1938) ...

. In 1972, Romilly was offered a seat on the bench of the provincial court of the province by Deputy Attorney General Dave Vickers but turned the offer down. Romilly was offered the position again and was then appointed a judge of the

Provincial Court of British Columbia The Provincial Court of British Columbia (BC Provincial Court) is a trial level court in British Columbia that hears cases in criminal, civil and family matters. The Provincial Court is a creation of statute, and as such its jurisdiction is ...

, effective 15 November 1974. He served until 1978. He was the first Black person to be appointed a judge at this level of court. In November 1995, Romilly was appointed to the

, becoming the first Black judge named to that court. He retired from the Supreme Court in 2015. In August 2003, Romilly ordered the extradition of former SS guard Michael Seifert from Canada to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

for a conviction of

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

taking part at

Bolzano Transit Camp Bolzano was a transit camp operated by Nazi Germany in Bolzano from 1944 to 3 May 1945 during World War II. It was one of the largest Nazi ''Lager'' on Italian soil, along with those of Fossoli, Borgo San Dalmazzo and Trieste. History After ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Racial profiling incident

On 14 May 2021, Romilly was wrongfully detained by officers of the

Vancouver Police Department The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) () is the police force in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Greater Vancouver, Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the provinc ...

while out on a morning walk. The officers were looking for a "dark-skinned" suspect in his 40s or 50s. Following the incident, Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart apologized to Romilly, condemning

systemic racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and suppor ...

present in the police force. Romilly, speaking with ''

Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...

'', said:

Personal life and death

Romilly moved to

Smithers, British Columbia Smithers is a town in northwestern British Columbia, approximately halfway between Prince George, British Columbia, Prince George and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Prince Rupert. With a population of 5,378 in 2021, Smithers provides service cove ...

, where he married his wife Lorna. They had two children. Selwyn Romilly died on 22 September 2023, at the age of 83.

Awards and honours

* 1996 –

Congress of Black Women of Canada The Congress of Black Women of Canada (CBWC) / , which began in 1973, is a national non-profit organization that "is dedicated to improving the lives of all Black women and their families in their local and national communities." It arose to organi ...

, for public service * 1997 – Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, award * 2008 – Black Law Students Association of Canada, distinguished public service award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romilly, Selwyn 1940s births Year of birth uncertain 2023 deaths 20th-century Canadian judges 21st-century Canadian judges University of British Columbia alumni People from Port of Spain Canadian people of Trinidad and Tobago descent