Shergill is the first ‘amritdhari’ Sikh woman Justice of Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada
Ottawa, June 24, 2017: For the first time in the Canadian judicial history, an ‘amritdhari’ Sikh woman Palbinder Kaur Shergill has been appointed Justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada.
The announcement of her appointment was made by Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Justice, Canada on Friday.
Justice Shergill was born in village Rurka Kalan in Jalandhar district of Punjab and married into a family from village Jagatpur of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Punjab, India. She immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of four. She grew up in Williams Lake, BC, and received her law degree from the University of Saskatchewan.
A news release by Department of Justice, Canada said that prior to her appointment to the bench, Justice Palbinder Kaur Shergill practised as a lawyer and mediator with her law firm, Shergill & Company, Trial Lawyers.
She lives in Surrey with her husband, daughter, and twin sons
She has extensive trial and appellate experience and has appeared before courts and tribunals across Canada, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Shergill was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2012 and is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal for Community Service.
Regarded as a leading human rights advocate, she has been instrumental in helping shape human rights and religious accommodation law in Canada through her pro bono work as General Legal Counsel for the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
Called to the British Columbia Bar in 1991, she has held leadership positions both within and outside the legal community. She has been involved with the Cabinet of Canadians, the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, and the Canadian Bar Association. From 2002 to 2008, Justice Shergill served on the Board of Directors of the Fraser Health Authority, the largest health region in the province.
Justice Shergill volunteers as a high school debate coach, plays the tabla and harmonium, and is kicking her way towards a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She is fluent in English and Punjabi, has a conversational knowledge of Hindi, and is aspiring towards fluency in French.