Court of Appeal for Ontario

Court of Appeal for Ontario
Established	1867
Country	Ontario, Canada
Location	Toronto
Authorized by	Ontario Courts of Justice Act
Number of positions	23 (plus supernumeraries)
Website	[1]
Chief Justice
Currently	Warren Winkler
Since	June 1, 2007

The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as Ontario Court of Appeal or OCA) is headquartered in downtown Toronto, in historic Osgoode Hall.

The Court is composed of 23 judges who hear over 1,500 appeals each year, on issues of private law, constitutional law, criminal law, administrative law, and other matters. The Supreme Court of Canada hears appeals from less than 3% of the decisions of the Court of Appeal; in a very practical sense, the Court of Appeal is the last avenue of appeal for most litigants in Canada's most populous province. Among the Court of Appeal's most notable decisions was a 2003 ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in Ontario, making Canada the first jurisdiction in the world where same-sex marriage was legalized by a court ruling. Among many judges from the Court who have been elevated to the Supreme Court of Canada are Justices Rosalie Abella, Louise Arbour, Peter Cory, Louise Charron, Andromache Karakatsanis, Bora Laskin, Michael Moldaver and Bertha Wilson. Justice Bertha Wilson was the first female justice on both the Ontario Court of Appeal (1975) and the Supreme Court of Canada (1982).

The court derives its jurisdiction from Ontario's Courts of Justice Act.

Current Justices

An OCA courtroom at Osgoode Hall. Over the dais is the Royal Arms of England, which until 1931 was the Royal Arms for general purposes throughout the British Empire. The Statute of Westminster, 1931 effectively elevated the Royal Arms of Canada to the position of the Queen's Royal Arms for general purposes across Canada, which is why the Canadian Coat of Arms are now used by the court to represent the Canadian Crown.

Position	Name	Appointed	Nominated by	Position Prior to Appointment*
Chief Justice of Ontario	Warren Winkler	June 1, 2007	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Robert A. Blair	November 5, 2003	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Eleanore A. Cronk	July 31, 2001	Chretien	Lawyer at Lax O'Sullivan Cronk LLP
Justice	David H. Doherty	September 1, 1990	Mulroney	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Edward Ducharme	April 10, 2012	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Gloria J. Epstein	October 12, 2007	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Kathryn N. Feldman	June 11, 1998	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Eileen E. Gillese	January 5, 2002	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Stephen T. Goudge	December 19, 1996	Chretien	Lawyer at Gowling, Strathy & Henderson LLP
Justice	Alexandra Hoy	December 2, 2011	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Russell G. Juriansz (Supernumerary)	March 12, 2004	Martin	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Harry S. Laforme (Supernumerary)	November 19, 2004	Martin	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	John I. Laskin	January 27, 1994	Chretien	Lawyer at Davies Ward & Beck LLP
Justice	Peter Lauwers	December 14, 2012	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Jean L. MacFarland (Supernumerary)	November 19, 2004	Martin	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	James C. MacPherson	May 25, 1999	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Sarah Pepall	April 10, 2012	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Marc Rosenberg	December 12, 1995	Chretien	Assistant Deputy Attorney General (Public Law and Policy Division and Civil Law Division)
Justice	Paul Rouleau	April 15, 2005	Martin	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Robert J. Sharpe	May 25, 1999	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Janet M. Simmons	August 23, 2000	Chretien	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	George Strathy	April 26, 2013	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Michael Tulloch	June 30, 2012	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	David Watt	October 12, 2007	Harper	Superior Court of Justice
Justice	Karen M. Weiler (Supernumerary)	March 12, 1992	Mulroney	Superior Court of Justice

Past Justices

• Dennis O'Connor (1998-2012)
• Michael Moldaver (1995–2011)
• Andromache Karakatsanis (2010–2011)
• Marvin A. Catzman (1988–2007)
• Roy McMurtry as Chief Justice (1996–2007)
• Louise Charron (1995–2004)
• Rosalie Abella (1992–2004)
• Louise Arbour (1990–1999)
• Charles Dubin (1973–1996)
• Walter Tarnopolsky (1985–1993)
• Peter Cory (1981–1989)
• Bertha Wilson (1975–1982)
• Goldwyn Arthur Martin (1973–1988)
• Bora Laskin (1965–1970)
• Jean-Marc Labrosse (1990–2007)
• Roy Kellock (1942–1944)
• Henry Hague Davis (1933–1935)
• Newton Wesley Rowell as Chief Justice (1936–1937)
• Sir William Mulock as Chief Justice (1923–1936)
• John Douglas Armour (1887–1890) as Chief Justice (1901–1902)
• John Hawkins Hagarty as Chief Justice (1884–1897)
• Thomas Moss as Chief Justice (1878–1880)
• Robert Alexander Harrison as Chief Justice (1875–1878)
• J. S. Spragge

Chief Justice of Upper Canada

• William Osgoode 1794–1801
• Henry Allcock 1802–1806
• Thomas Scott 1806–1816
• William Dummer Powell 1816–1825
• Sir William Campbell 1825–1829
• Sir John Beverley Robinson 1829–1862
• William Henry Draper 1863–1867

See also

• Supreme Court of Canada

External links

• Court of Appeal for Ontario official site
• Plan to webcast Ontario appeal cases delayed