Congratulations to Baljinder Kaur Girn

Baljinder Kaur Girn, a SABABC member was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia today on Feburary 7, 2022. Justice Girn replaces Justice D.M. Masuhara (Vancouver), who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective May 23, 2021. SABABC invites all of its members to congratulate Justice Girn on her appointment!

Justice Girn was born in India and immigrated to Canada with her family at the age of six. She grew up in Burnaby and is a proud member of Canada’s Punjabi Sikh community. She is fluent in Punjabi and has conversational fluency in Hindi. She was the first member of her extended family to attend university, earning a B.A. from Simon Fraser University and LL.B. from Queen’s University. She was called to the Ontario bar in 1999 and the British Columbia bar in 2002.

Justice Girn began her legal career with the law firm, Heller, Rubel in Toronto. In 2002, she joined the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC) in British Columbia, and went on to become Senior Crown Counsel. For the past twenty years at the PPSC, she has litigated a broad range of criminal prosecutions of offences under various federal statutes in courts across British Columbia. At the PPSC, she also mentored law students and young lawyers and provided legal education to lawyers and law enforcement agencies. In 2020, she received the PPSC’s Leadership Excellence Award.

Justice Girn was a member of the PPSC’s Advancement Centre for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team, National Advisor for Racialized Persons, and Co-Champion of the PPSC Bias-Free Workplace Initiative. She was actively involved with the Canadian Bar Association – BC Branch, including serving on its board and provincial council for the past three years.

Justice Girn and her spouse are the proud parents of a teenaged son. She is an avid sports fan and a competitive soccer player, as well as being a community volunteer, aspiring chef, and gardener.