A professorship based at Allard Law has been named in honour of Justice Selwyn Romilly: The Hon. Selwyn Romilly UBC Professorship in Race and Access to Justice.
“We’re proud to announce the naming of this professorship in honour of Justice Romilly and the remarkable legacy of his life’s work,” says Dean Ngai Pindell.
Allard Law Professor Dr. Irehobhude (Ireh) Iyioha, an expert on human rights, jurisprudence, and health law and policy, is the inaugural holder of the professorship. Funded through a historic gift from the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the professorship will increase capacity for the law school’s teaching, research and advocacy efforts in the areas of race, access to justice and the law.
Justice Romilly, who passed away in September 2023, was a historic figure in the Canadian legal system. He was one of the first Black graduates of Allard Law and the first Black person appointed to any court in British Columbia, serving on both the Provincial Court of BC and the BC Supreme Court. He decided more than 700 cases and was known for his many contributions to the development of law in BC. A number of his decisions also informed and were upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Throughout his 40-year career, Justice Romilly was also a dedicated mentor and role model for many Black law students and lawyers. As part of his commitment to building a more representative legal system, he helped create the first entrance award at Allard Law in support of Black Canadian law students in 2021, together with Judge David St. Pierre and several other Vancouver-based lawyers.
“Those who knew Selwyn Romilly knew that he was a humble man, legitimately unaware of the oversized space that he occupied in vastly different communities,” reflects Judge St. Pierre.
The naming of this professorship illustrates how Justice Romilly’s “trailblazing, friendships, mentorship, advocacy, support and kindness” have advanced legal jurisprudence, the diversity of the bench and bar and the development of young lawyers, adds Judge St. Pierre. “When institutions and societies progress toward a measure of real inclusivity, someone has to be the first. The many that have followed stand on his broad shoulders.”
Dr. Iyioha says that Justice Romilly had a “discerning understanding of the real-world effects of law on ordinary, everyday people, and the heightened impacts of law, legal institutions and legal processes on racialized people.”
Throughout her professorship, Dr. Iyioha aims to “model the values that animated Justice Romilly’s life’s work.” She’s focusing on a number of critical issues, including procedural and systemic limits to accessing justice and exploring new theoretical frameworks for assessing the effectiveness of access to justice practices and innovations.
Among her current projects, Dr. Iyioha is exploring the impact of gatekeeping access to human rights tribunals for racialized individuals. She’s also working on several cross-disciplinary projects to better understand the impact of costly legal disputes on vulnerable community members.
“Questions about whether laws, programs and processes are working effectively and for whom are at the core of my research,” notes Dr. Iyioha. “What are enduring structural barriers to accessing justice? Are access to justice initiatives and programming functioning optimally?”
As part of her work to break down barriers to accessing justice through Canada’s human rights system, Dr. Iyioha is organizing a high-level international conference at Allard Law focused on human rights reform on February 2 and 3: The Future of Human Rights: International Conference on Race and Access to Justice in Canada.
Chief Justice Leonard Marchand is scheduled to deliver the plenary lecture, while Patricia DeGuire, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, will be delivering the conference’s keynote address and participating in a panel on the second day.
It was in the late 1990s that Chief Commissioner DeGuire first met Justice Romilly. She describes him as a man of great humility, with a fine analytical mind, a deep commitment to social justice and unimpeachable ethics. “He had this sense of humanity and dignity that wove through his very personhood,” she says.
He was also deeply committed to the rule of law and its stewardship. “The law was his purpose and that purpose was driven with passion,” adds Chief Commissioner DeGuire, who notes that Justice Romilly not only enriched the rule of law, but also the communities and people he was committed to serving.
“He personified the Ubuntu philosophy umntu ngumntu ngabantu – I am because we are,” says Chief Commissioner DeGuire. “He sought not to empower himself, but to empower his community.” He took on the responsibility of addressing inequalities for both the Black community and for everyone, she adds. “He was a pillar of strength.”
Through his life’s work, his impact on his community, and now through the Hon. Selwyn Romilly UBC Professorship in Race and Access to Justice, Justice Romilly’s legacy continues.
“It’s a privilege to be associated with the legacy of the Honourable Justice Selwyn Romilly, and more importantly, to be chosen to advance the type of thoughtful inquiry embodied in his life’s work,” says Dr. Iyioha. “I look forward to continuing the work my team and I are already doing through this professorship, and to carrying forward the spirit of Justice Romilly’s commitment to equity and justice.”
