Nicholas Kasirer appointed to the Court of Appeal of Quebec

Appointment comes only weeks following end of term as Dean of Law

Nicholas Kasirer, former Dean of the Faculty of Law at McGill University, has been named a Judge of the Court of Appeal of Quebec, the province’s highest court. The nomination, effective immediately, was announced by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Rob Nicholson. The Honourable Nicholas Kasirer replaces Madam Justice Louise Otis, who resigned in April.

A graduate of McGill’s Faculty of Law (1985), Mr. Justice Kasirer had been a professor there since 1989, and served as its Dean from November 2003 to May 2009.

“We are incredibly proud of Prof. Kasirer and congratulate him on this significant appointment, a recognition of his remarkable talent,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill University. “After an outstanding 20-year career at McGill, he leaves an extraordinary legacy and will undoubtedly distinguish himself as an eminent member of the Canadian judiciary.”

A Montreal native, Nicholas Kasirer is a specialist in Quebec private law, comparative law, family property law, law and language and legal theory. From 1996 to 2003, he was the Director of the Quebec Research Centre for Private and Comparative Law, where he was an editor of a critical edition of the Civil Code of Quebec.

Mr. Justice Kasirer has received the American Society of Comparative Law's Hessel Yntema Award in Comparative Law, the Prix de la Fondation du Barreau, the Law Students’ Association's John W. Durnford Teaching Excellence Award, and the McGill Alumni Association David Johnston Medal. He was named James McGill Professor by McGill University in 2002, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2008.

He joins the Honourable Yves-Marie Morissette, another former McGill Law professor and Dean (1989-1994), whose intelligence and integrity have marked the decisions at the Court of Appeal of Quebec since 2002.