Honsberger Award Recipient for 2022
Isfahan Merali is to be honoured with the 2022 Honsberger Award at the Toronto Lawyers’ Association Awards of Distinction Reception on May 10 in Toronto.
The Honsberger Award is presented annually to a member of the TLA in recognition of a single unique accomplishment or ongoing contributions to the legal community and the community at large, exemplifying the TLA’s three pillars: Knowledge, Community and Advocacy. (The TLA also presents the TLA Award of Distinction, which honours a recipient’s lifetime achievement of excellence and contribution to the integrity of the legal profession).
Isfahan Merali arrived in Toronto as a three-year-old with her family from Tanzania, East Africa. A daunting start in a new country where she and her family faced many challenges encouraged her to pursue a law career, highlighted by her pursuit of social justice and the right of all people to pursue their dreams.
Since 2012, Isfahan has been seconded from the Ministry of the Attorney General as Tribunal Senior Counsel to the Consent and Capacity Board where she practices in the areas of administrative and mental health law.
And on May 28, 2015, she joined the Law Society of Upper Canada (now Law Society of Ontario) as the first South Asian female bencher elected in its 218-year history.
Isfahan graduated in 1995 from the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, and was selected as a Human Rights Fellow at the Faculty of Law from 1999-2000. Early in her law studies she developed a particular focus on international human rights law. Isfahan practiced human rights and administrative law as Counsel to the Ontario Human Rights Commission from 1995 to 2012. She was also the Commission’s Acting Registrar during a period of significant transition within the human rights system in Ontario.
Isfahan was most recently on secondment as Counsel and Deputy Registrar to the Ontario Judicial Council/Justices of the Peace Review Council with the Office of the Chief Justice, Ontario Court of Justice. Isfahan has served as the Acting Director of the International Human Rights Programme at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, and in 2009-2010 she was chosen to direct the University of Toronto’s tri-campus Anti-Racism and Cultural Diversity Office.
Her life has been punctuated by a sense of adventure, fearlessness and professional excellence that early on earned her the respect and support of some of Canada’s legal luminaries and a passion for social justice and fairness.
“Isfahan’s dedication to the legal profession and her long-standing work on behalf of her clients, human rights and diversity makes her a role model for others within the legal industry and society in general,” said, Michael J. L. White, Toronto Lawyers’ Association Board President.
“She confirms that by developing and applying one’s natural talents, acting fearlessly on one’s intellectual curiosity and consistently giving back to the community, we all can create a rich and fulfilling life,” he added.
Isfahan has acted as a consultant and Board Director to diverse non-governmental organizations on international human rights law issues, and has advocated on their behalf at the United Nations. She is the co-editor of Giving Meaning to Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (University of Pennsylvania Press) and author of various academic journal articles on human rights and international law. She has presented in Canada and abroad on various topics including human rights, international women’s rights and children’s rights. Isfahan is also a recipient of the South Asian Bar Association of Toronto’s 2015 Award for Legal Excellence & Leadership. In 2017, she was recognized by the Federation of Asian Canadian Leaders as a Community Leader.
Isfahan is a former Trustee of the Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO), and was the first racialized Trustee appointed to the LFO. She was first elected as a Bencher (Toronto region) to The Law Society of Ontario in 2015 (re-elected again in the last challenging 2019 election) and serves as a Bencher Adjudicator to the Law Society Hearings and Appeals Tribunal.