Palbinder Kaur Shergill became the first turbaned (amritdhari) Sikh woman to be appointed judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster. Shergill spent 26 years practicing law before she was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
As a counsel of great repute who has received numerous public victories for a variety of Sikh, Jewish, and Christian causes, her appointment as judge marks a remarkable step forward for her personally as well as for the Sikh community in Canada and the Sikhs across the world.
At the age of four, Justice Shergill immigrated to Canada with her family from Punjab. She attended the University of Saskatchewan for her law degree and is a native of Williams Lake, BC. Her extended family in India runs a non-profit computer and stitching center situated in Jalandhar for the underprivileged in the community in which she was born.
Shergill has provided pro bono legal counsel to the World Sikh Organization (WSO) of Canada since 1991. Palbinder Kaur Shergill was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in New Westminster on 23 June 2017. She replaced Justice E.A. Arnold-Bailey, who retired on May 31, 2017. The announcement was made by Jody Wilson-Raybould, minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. "She has played an important role in shaping human rights and religious accommodation laws in Canada," said a news release from the federal government. Shergill worked for her law firm, Shergill & Company Trial Lawyers, as a lawyer and mediator before she was appointed to the bench. As an experienced trial and appellate lawyer, she has appeared in courts and tribunals across the nation, including the Supreme Court.
As a recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal for Community Service, Shergill was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2012. Palbinder is married to Amritpal Singh, who hails from Jagatpur village in Nawanshahr. She resides in Surrey with her husband, daughter, and twin sons.
She was called to the British Columbia Bar in 1991 and has held leadership positions within and outside of the legal profession. She is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, and the Cabinet of Canadians.
She has represented the WSO in landmark cases in front of the Supreme Court of Canada, including the right of Sikh students to wear kirpans (a ceremonial knife) in schools, and the right of a Catholic high school to teach ethics and religious culture from a Catholic perspective.
In 2013, Shergill reflected on Sikh support for religious freedom. She gave the keynote address in the Power of Spirit series, an ongoing community engagement program of the Multifaith Action Society of British Columbia which invites speakers from different religions to discuss their tenets. Despite the Sikh view that women should not cover their faces, Shergill cited the WSO's support for Muslim women in Quebec's right to wear the niqab in her speech.
Justice Shergill volunteers as a high school debate coach, plays the tabla and harmonium, and is working her way up to a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She is conversationally proficient in Hindi, Punjabi, and English, and is working on mastering French.
On being asked how she got into law and onto the bench, Palbinder shares….
Natural and impossible are both words that come to mind. Though this may seem contradictory, she believes this describes the journey of many. Economically, societally, and culturally, an immigrant child growing up in a small town in Canada in the 1970s should not have aspired to more than a high school diploma. If the child was a girl, the job would most likely be replaced by a husband to care for her and a house full of children. As the daughter of the Ex- IAF officer Gian Singh Sandhu her mindset was different, as her parents valued education, equality, and community service and her career seemed a logical extension of the Canadian ideal. She says that she was drawn to law because she believed that it was the most effective tool for bringing about change.Having worked as a litigator for 26 years, she felt it was time for her to try something different. She thought it was time for a new challenge after having enjoyed a very fulfilling career as a lawyer. She was drawn to the bench because she thought it would give her the chance to progress and give back to the legal system in a different way.
The appointment of Justice Shergill is another milestone for the Sikh Community. In the wake of her appointment as the first turbaned Sikh Supreme Court Judge, Sikhs all across the globe are proud and happy for her.
It is only in our minds that there are limits to what women can accomplish. In addition to inspiring a lot of women, Palbinder Kaur’s elevation as a judge has also shown that nothing is impossible when you have strength, resilience, determination, and grace.