By Samuel Getachew

A year after the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms of 1982 became Canada’s bill of rights, Aston Joseph Hall moved to Canada from Kingston, Jamaica.

After a long journey that has included studies at the prestigious Osgoode Hall Law School, leadership positions with the Canadian Black Law students Association and a stellar career in law, the 52-year-old criminal law attorney is set to make a historic run as a judge on the Ontario Court of Justice.

The latest milestone caps not just a great personal milestone but a move towards a court that reflects the great diversity of our land. In October, just before Justice Hall’s appointment by the Province of Ontario, Andromache Karakatsanis was appointed as a member of Canada’s Supreme Court becoming the first Greek Canadian to do so.

The Jamaican Canadian Association, where Hall has been a senior volunteer, was quick to seize on his achievement, calling it, “an extremely proud moment when one of our own has been ascended to such a position of honor,” according to its president, Audrey Campbell. “He is a shining example of what can be accomplished through hard work and a commitment to excellence.”

The sole proprietor of Aston J. Hall and Associates, Joseph Hall has been a fixture with the Criminal Lawyers’ Association serving as its director for a number of years. According to the noted Brampton based Jamaican Canadian artist Nadine Williams, his appointment gives a “positive fulfilling glimpse to the great growth and contributions of Jamaican Canadians despite the many negative connotations that are usually associated with us.”

While in Jamaica, Justice Hall was the organizer of the People’s National Party where he earned the admiration of former Prime Minister The Right Honorable Michael Manley of Jamaica.

Upon his appointment, daughter of the late Prime Minister, author Rachel Manley recognized “a well-deserved recognition of his years of service in the defense of justice in Ontario” and added, “this news fills me, personally, and I am sure other Caribbean Canadians, with special pride.” Less than a year before Jamaica celebrates its 50^th independence anniversary, his appointment has been warmly received by Canada’s strong Jamaican Canadian population as well as in Jamaica.

While still at York University, where he earned his BA in Political Science and Labour studies and LLB and LLM in later years, he served as a political assistant to Ontario’s first black woman minister, Zanana Akande, while she was a Minister of Community and Social Services under Bob Rae’s NDP in the early 1990’s.

The father of four and grandfather of one, whose appointment took effect on Thursday, December 8^th, joins a number of Caribbean Canadian’s who have distinguished themselves in Canada’s public legal system including the late Julius Alexander Isaac – who was Canada’s first Black justice appointed by the former Progressive Conservative government of the Right Honorable Brian Mulroney in 1991.

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