Ontario Celebrates Excellence in Legal Writing
Press Release
April 24, 2025
University of Toronto Law Professor John Borrows Awarded Mundell Medal
TORONTO — The Ontario government has awarded the 2024 David Walter Mundell Medal for excellence in legal writing to Professor John Borrows.
John Borrows is a transformative, world-renowned scholar of Indigenous law, constitutional law and a law professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law. His dedication to pioneering Indigenous legal education is evident in his written work and publications.
Professor Borrows is a member of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation in Ontario. He has written extensively on Indigenous legal rights and his writing style reflects the oral traditions of his people. Professor Borrows’ books Recovering Canada: The Resurgence of Indigenous Law and Freedom and Indigenous Constitutionalism have each been recognized with the prestigious Donald Smiley Award. His publication Law’s Indigenous Ethics received the Best Subsequent Book Award from the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association and the W. Wesley Pue Book Prize. His work has also been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada.
Professor Borrows was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2020 and has received numerous accolades for his work, including being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and as recipient of seven honourary doctorates from prestigious institutions across the country. He held the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Law at the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Law, where he co-founded the world’s first dual degree program in Indigenous and common law in 2018. He is currently the Loveland Chair in Indigenous Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto.
Quotes
“Professor Borrows’ extraordinary writing epitomizes the qualities that the Mundell Medal celebrates. His impressive body of scholarship in Indigenous law is expressed through prose that is as clear and accessible as it is compelling and elegant. Professor Borrows’ unique writing style draws upon Indigenous storytelling and oral tradition and is a powerful example of how the written word can enrich our understanding of the law.”
– The Honourable Justice Sarah Pepall
Chair of the Selection Committee
“Over the course of Professor John Borrows’ distinguished career, his remarkable written work has illuminated a wide range of Indigenous legal traditions. Professor Borrows has made significant contributions to legal writing in the fields of Indigenous law and constitutional law, broadening our understandings in these areas, and making him a very worthy receipt of the 2024 Mundell Medal. I congratulate Professor Borrows on this well-deserved recognition of his commitment to Indigenous law and Indigenous legal education.”
– Doug Downey
Attorney General
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