Renu Mandhane

Madam Justice Renu Mandhane is a Canadian judge. She was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on May 22, 2020[1] by Governor General Julie Payette, on the recommendation of Attorney General David Lametti. Mandhane sits in Brampton, Ontario.

Before her elevation to the Court, Madam Justice Mandhane was Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, serving from October 2015 to May 2020.

Mandhane grew up in Calgary, Alberta and is the daughter of immigrants from India.[2] Mandhane earned a J.D. from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and an LL.M degree in international human rights law from New York University School of Law in 2003, after which she pursued a criminal law practice. In private practice, she represented survivors of sexual violence and prisoners, and is noted in particular for her advocacy related to solitary confinement.[3]

From 2009-2015, Mandhane was Executive Director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.[3] Mandhane oversaw research on freedom of expression in Mexico[4]and India[5], and Canada’s treatment of immigration detainees.[6] During her tenure, the International Human Rights Program won the Ludwig and Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize.[7]

During Mandhane’a time at the Commission, the OHRC enacted policies on eliminating racial profiling[8], accessible education,[9] and religious freedom.[10] The Commission also released ground-breaking studies showing the gross over-representation of black people in violent police interactions,[11] and the over-representation of Black and Indigenous children in state care.[12] It also launched a public inquiry into the rights of students with reading disabilities who attend public schools in Ontario.[13]

As Commissioner, Mandhane met Adam Capay, a young Indigenous man who was held in solitary confinement in the Thunder Bay Jail for over 4 years.[14] Capay’s treatment made national headlines, and led the Commission to launch a legal challenge to Ontario’s use of solitary confinement. The resulting Order from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario placed strict limits on the use of solitary confinement on people with mental health issues.[15]

During Mandhane`s tenure as Chief Commissioner, the Commission prioritized reconciliation with First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples[16] and negotiated a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres.[17]

For her work to advance human rights, in 2020, Mandhane received the International Commission of Jurists-Canada’s Tarnipolsky Human Rights Award. In 2019 Mandhane she was awarded Excellence Canada’s highest honour, the Special Recognition of Achievement.[18] For her decades-long efforts to advance the human rights of incarcerated people, Mandhane received the 2018 Ed McIsaac Human Rights in Corrections Award.[19] Mandhane was recognized as one of Canada’s “Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers” in 2017 by Canadian Lawyer Magazine.[20]