Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry

Toronto, ON Directions
recognized lawyers icon Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2027
Awarded Practice Areas
Appellate Practice
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Sujit Choudhry
Sujit Choudhry
Toronto, ON
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Works at
Circle Barristers

1 Best Lawyers award

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Biography

Sujit is one of Canada’s leading public law litigators. He has a broad public law practice on questions of administrative law and constitutional law, including in appeals, arbitrations, judicial reviews, and public inquiries. He is increasingly engaged in Charter class actions against Canadian governments.

He has been ranked by Chambers and Partners (Canada Guide) – Litigation: Administrative and Public Law.

Sujit has litigated and advised on public law issues in a wide variety of contexts, including:

  • cabinet decision-making; emergency powers; national security; foreign affairs; prerogative powers

  • citizenship; immigration and refugees

  • conflict of interest; political party governance; democratic reform

  • child welfare; education; public health; social assistance; social services

  • securities regulation; gaming; social media; telecommunications

  • agriculture; aviation

  • labour relations; property rights

Sujit frequently represents interveners in high profile public law appeals.

Sujit also has an extensive counsel practice, providing advice on complex constitutional issues to NGOs, politicians, corporations, private individuals, legal clinics, Canadian and foreign governments, industry trade associations, and public sector agencies.

Before founding Circle Barristers, Sujit was a full-time constitutional law scholar at the University of Toronto, New York University, and Berkeley. He has edited nine books on constitutional law and published over 100 articles, reports, book chapters, and working papers (see his SSRN profile). He served as Law Clerk to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer of the Supreme Court of Canada, and was a Rhodes Scholar.

Sujit has lectured or spoken in three dozen countries. For over 20 years, he has advised constitutional and peace processes across the world, including in Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.

Sujit’s work has been cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and provincial courts across Canada.

Works at
Circle Barristers

1 Best Lawyers award

Visit Firm Profile

Locations

Toronto, Ontario
180 John Street
Toronto, ON M5T 1X5
Canada

Education

  • University of Oxford, BA - Rhodes Scholar, graduated 1994
  • Harvard University, LLM, graduated 1998
  • University of Toronto, JD, graduated 1996

Bar Admissions

  • Ontario, Law Society of Ontario, 2001

Client Testimonials

Awards & Focus

Recognized in The Best Lawyers in Canada™ 2027 for work in:
  • Appellate Practice

Case History

Cases
  • Canadian Immigration Lawyers v. Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees et al.:
Charter challenge to s. 167(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to establish right to counsel in all immigration examinations/interviews and applications.
  • Heegsma v. City of Hamilton
Charter challenge to municipal by-laws prohibiting encampments on the basis of sections 7 and 15 (sex, race, disability, indigeneity, and marital status).
  • Francis v. Air Canada; Antwi v. Air Canada
Complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act for discrimination based on race and sex in international aviation, raising the impact of the Montreal Convention and the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on the power of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to award damages and the constitutionality of the Carriage by Air Act.
  • Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario v. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
A constitutional challenge to Cabinet's decision to designate the United States as a safe third country for refugee determination decisions.
  • Loshaj v. AG Canada
A constitutional challenge to section 39 of the Canada Evidence Act’s class privilege for cabinet confidences, shielding them from disclosure in court proceedings.
  • Public Order Emergency Commission (Rouleau Commission)
A public inquiry into the public order emergency declared under the Emergencies Act. Sujit cross-examined Prime Minister Trudeau, cabinet ministers, the Director of CSIS, and other senior federal civil servants.
  • Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in Federal Electoral Processes and Democratic Institutions (Hogue Commission)
Represented Jenny Kwan MP, a target of foreign interference, at the public inquiry into allegations that China, Russia, and other foreign actors may have interfered in with the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal elections. Sujit cross-examined Prime Minister Trudeau, cabinet ministers, the Director of CSIS, and other senior federal civil servants.
  • Canadian Constitution Foundation v. AG Canada
A successful challenge to the legality and constitutionality of the public order emergency declared under the Emergencies Act.
  • Bjorkquist et al. v. AG Canada
A successful Charter challenge to the “second generation cut off” in the Citizenship Act, based on section 15 discrimination (sex and national origin) and section 6 mobility rights.
  • Cool World v. Twitter
Contract claim against Twitter (now X) for refusing to run an advertisement, raising the question of whether Twitter’s ad policies are void under the doctrine of public policy, which incorporates the Charter value of freedom of expression.
  • Ferris v. AG Canada
A class action challenging the Canadian Student Loan Program, for discriminating against disabled students in breach of section 15 of the Charter.
  • Democracy Watch v. AGC
A successful challenge to the constitutionality of a partial private clause that shields decisions of the federal Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner from judicial review.

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