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Professor Borrows, the inaugural Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at U of T's Faculty of Law, has been named a recipient of the Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize.
Established in 1995, the Ludwik & Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize is part of U of T's Pinnacle Awards Program, which recognizes exceptional contributions by administrative staff, librarians, faculty members, and students.
Recipients of the Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize include a wide variety of individuals who have been recognized for their scholarship, personal service to others, or activities in support of the University of Toronto’s commitment to human rights, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. There are two categories of the Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize: Influential Leader or Emerging Leader.
Professor Borrows is a transformative scholar of Indigenous law, constitutional law and the rule of law and a leader in Indigenous legal education. His ground-breaking work has influenced academics, practitioners, jurists, policymakers and communities worldwide and has transformed our understanding of the law in Canada. His scholarship and innovative approach to legal education supports the University’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion and has directly impacted and advanced human rights.
Professor Borrows is Anishinaabe, a member of the Chippewas of the Nawash First Nation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the recipient of seven honorary doctorates, was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, and has received a total of twenty-two prestigious awards, including the Killam Prize and the Governor General’s Innovation Award.
His work explores many themes, including the revitalization of Indigenous law as part of reconciliation in the context of historical wrongs, the capacity of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to function as an Indigenous international economic agreement, Indigenous approaches to the participatory development of law as a model at a time when democratic institutions are under threat, and the ability of Indigenous law to draw on the wisdom of the beyond-human world and respect the rights of more-than-human beings, including fellow creatures and the Earth itself, viewed as a being with rights that deserve to be honoured.
Professor Borrows’ innovations in teaching support the revitalization of Indigenous law and justice for Indigenous people more broadly. Of particular note is his mandatory first-year Law course in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #28 and the celebrated immersive land-based program on Indigenous law that he founded in 2014, which is now offered by four universities at reserves in Ontario.
Professor Borrows was nominated by Jutta Brunnée, Dean, Faculty of Law.
The Ludwik & Estelle Jus Memorial Human Rights Prize is one of three awards the Division of People Strategy, Equity & Culture presents each spring, alongside the President’s Excellence Awards and the Chancellor’s Leadership Award. These awards are aligned with the University’s broader Awards of Excellence Program – U of T’s most distinguished awards program.
Cheryl Milne, Executive Director of the David Asper Centre for Constitutional Rights was named a recipient of the Chancellor’s Leadership Award (Distinguished Leader).
