Gloria Jean Epstein is a

supernumerary judge A supernumerary judge or supernumerary magistrate is a judge who has retired from a full-time position on a court, but continues to work part-time. Generally, when a judge becomes supernumerary a vacancy is created, and the appropriate person or bod ...

of the

Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

. She had also previously been appointed to the

Court of Ontario The Court of Ontario is the formal legal title describing the combination of both Ontario trial courts — the Superior Court of Justice and the Ontario Court of Justice The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court of record for the Cana ...

. On January 1, 2015, Epstein retired to become a supernumerary judge, and was replaced as a full-time judge by Bradley W. Miller. Epstein graduated in 1972 from

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

, earning an Honours Bachelor of Commerce. Epstein is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, earning a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1977. She founded one of the first

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

-based law firms that was owned by a woman. She often lectures on the role of female lawyers in Canadian law and her own experience in being raised to the bench while raising three children. In 1999, Epstein, then serving on the

Ontario Superior Court of Justice The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

, ruled in '' M v H'' that the definition of a spouse in the ''

Ontario Family Law Act The ''Family Law Act'' (the Act) is a statute passed by the Legislature of Ontario in 1990, regulating the rights of spouses and dependants in regard to property, support, inheritance, prenuptial agreements, separation agreements, and other mat ...

'' was unconstitutional because it discriminated against homosexuals. The ruling was upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada after appeals by the Ontario government of Premier Mike Harris. That same year, she also ruled that the plaintiff of '' Joly v Pelletier'' had no valid standing before the Court because his claim that he was a martian meant he was not a "person" for the purposes of court proceedings. In 2011, Epstein was considered a candidate to fill a vacant

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

seat for Ontario, which ultimately went to Court of Appeal judge

Andromache Karakatsanis Andromache Karakatsanis (born October 3, 1955) is a Canadian jurist. She was nominated to the Supreme Court of Canada by Stephen Harper in October 2011. She is the first Greek-Canadian judge on the Court. Early life Karakatsanis was born in Toro ...

. In 2013, Epstein won a Toronto

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Women of Distinction Award for her contributions to the legal field. From 2013 to 2015, Epstein served as the volunteer president of the University of Toronto Law Alumni Association. In 2014, after the December 2013 retirement of

Warren Winkler Warren Keith Winkler, (born December 10, 1938) is a Canadians, Canadian jurist and a former Chief Justice of Ontario. Appointed by Prime Minister of Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper on June 1, 2007, Winkler was previously Regional Senior Judg ...

Chief Justice of Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...

, Epstein was considered as one of the two leading candidates to replace him as Ontario's highest judge. The Toronto Police Services Board chair cited Epstein's "legal rigour and reputational excellence" as she was retained to head an independent review of the handling of missing persons investigations by Toronto police. Epstein is to retire as a part-time judge on September 1, 2018, to dedicate herself to the review, which is expected to conclude in early 2020. Epstein began horse-riding in 1986, when she was 35. At The Royal 2012 she won the Adult Amateur Stake with a horse named Moonshadow. Epstein was overall Adult Amateurs champion with a horse called High Voltage on the Canadian Circuit in back-to-back years. In June 2013, Epstein was both the Champion and Reserve Champion in the Adult Amateurs at the Palgrave Summer Classic show.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Gloria J. Living people Justices of the Court of Appeal for Ontario Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women judges Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Toronto Faculty of Law alumni