Madam Justice Michelle Fuerst was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario in 2002 and assigned to the Central East Region, where she presides primarily over criminal law cases. From October 1, 2013, until January 1, 2021, she was Regional Senior Judge of that Region, serving as a member of the Superior Court’s Executive, and having responsibility for the scheduling and assignment of the judges in the Region. She is a 1979 graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School.

At the time of her appointment to the Bench, she was a partner in the Toronto law firm of Gold & Fuerst, where her practice was restricted to criminal and quasi-criminal trials and appeals. She is a past President of both the Canadian Bar Association-Ontario, and the Criminal Lawyers’ Association (Ontario). She was a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Osgoode Hall Law School for over a dozen years, where she taught Advanced Evidence, and Criminal Law II. For six years she was an Instructor in Trial Advocacy at the University of Toronto Law School. She was the 1998 Milvain Chair of Advocacy at the Faculty of Law, University of Calgary. She was co-Chair of the Federation of Law Societies’ annual National Criminal Law Program for over a decade, until 2017.

She is a co-author of the annual annotated Tremeear’s Criminal Code, a co-author of multiple editions of The Law of Evidence in Canada, a co-author of The Trial of Sexual Offence Cases, a co-editor of multiple editions of Ontario Courtroom Procedure, and a co-author of the Police Powers Newsletter. She currently chairs the Criminal Law Program of the CIAJ/NJI Seminar for New Federally Appointed Judges. She is a member of the Judicial Education Committee of the Canadian Judicial Council, and a member of the Education Committee for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. She also is a member of the Court’s Criminal Law Working Group. She was a Director of the Ontario Superior Court Judges’ Association from 2008 to 2013. She has chaired the Canadian Bar Association’s International Development Committee, and the Canadian Bar Association’s Judges’ Forum. She is a Fellow of both the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the International Society of Barristers. In 2021 she received the Alumni Gold Key Award from Osgoode Hall Law School. She was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, by the Law Society of Ontario in June 2022.

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