Hon. Justice Charles Doherty Gonthier,
McGill Faculty of Law

Hon. Justice Charles Doherty Gonthier is among the most eminent and respected figures in Canadian legal circles. He is currently Wainwright Senior Research Fellow at the McGill University Faculty of Law, Chair of the International Council of the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, and of counsel with McCarthy Tetrault. He recently retired from 15 distinguished years of service as one of nine Justices on the Supreme Court of Canada, where his decisions have reinforced the notions of equity and good faith in law, especially in the area of contracts. A 1951 law graduate from McGill University, Gonthier was admitted to the Quebec bar a year later and practised law with several distinguished Montreal firms, which earned him the designation of Queen's Council in 1971. He has an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa. He became a judge of the Quebec Superior Court in 1974. After only eight months as a member of the Quebec Court of Appeal, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, on February 1, 1989. In addition to his brilliant career as a magistrate, Gonthier has contributed to many committees of the Quebec bar and the Canadian Bar Association. The work he has done on behalf of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the McCord Museum of Canadian History attests to his interest in the arts.