Gavel (illustration)
Gavel (illustration)iStock

The B’nai Brith Canada League for Human Rights has been granted intervener status in the Canadian Federal Court case of a Jewish judge who stands accused of bias for being pro-Israel.

The organization’s request to be a party in the case of Justice David Spiro had been opposed by parties who wanted to exclude it from the legal process, B’nai Brith said in a statement.

“The case concerns Justice David Spiro… who spoke to an alumni and development officer from the University of Toronto regarding his concerns about hiring Valentina Azarova, a virulently anti-Israel academic based in Germany, to lead its prestigious International Human Rights Program,” B’nai Brith explained. “This prompted complaints against Justice Spiro to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC), seeking his removal from the bench. The CJC’s Judicial Conduct Review Panel concluded that, while Justice Spiro had erred in discussing Dr. Azarova with the University, there were no grounds to remove him from the bench.”

Some of the complainants are now challenging the CJC’s decision in Federal Court, an upcoming case in which B’nai Brith will have intervener status. The National Council of Canadian Muslims, the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, Independent Jewish Voices, the Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association and several individuals had opposed B'nai Brith's request to be granted such status but Justice Catherine M. Kane rejected their arguments, including the fact that “some of their objections [to B’nai Brith] are inconsistent.”

As an intervener, B’nai Brith will argue that the claim that Spiro is “biased against Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians because he is a pro-Israel member of the Jewish community, is baseless and risks descending into stereotypes.”

According to B’nai Brith, while the outcome of the case does not “does not deal with that argument on its merits,” the judge ruled that “B’nai Brith’s suggestion that the allegations of bias or the perception of bias against Justice Spiro are based, in part, from his affiliations and his faith cannot be dismissed.”

“B’nai Brith is proud to continue ensuring that the voices of Canadian Jewry are heard in important legal cases,” said B’nai Brith Canada CEO Michael Mostyn. “The vast majority of Canadian Jews are pro-Israel and reject bias against Israel. In our view, if Justice Spiro is ultimately subjected to discipline, then the rights of Canadian Jews as a whole to participate in the Canadian judiciary will be undermined.”