Quebec’s Complaints Prompt Supreme Court Justice to Withdraw From Bill 21 Challenge.
A Supreme Court of Canada justice has announced that he will abstain from participating in deliberations regarding the potential hearing of an appeal to Quebec’s secularism law, Bill 21.
Justice Mahmud Jamal stated in a letter issued on July 9 by the court registrar that even though there is no legal requirement for him to recuse himself, he has chosen to withdraw in order to prevent becoming a distraction.
Last week, Quebec’s attorney general and other organizations urged Justice Jamal to step back from the case due to his previous role as chairman of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association’s board of directors during the group’s challenge to Bill 21 in Superior Court in 2019.
Initially, Justice Jamal had stated that he did not intend to remove himself from the case when the issue was first raised on June 25.
In February, Quebec’s Court of Appeal upheld the province’s secularism law, which restricts some public sector employees from wearing religious symbols while on duty.
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association and other groups have requested permission to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court, which has not yet indicated whether it will hear the case.
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