Derek Bennett Mix Ross

Derek Ross, LL.B. (Western), LL.M. (Toronto), is Executive Director & General Counsel for Christian Legal Fellowship. His litigation practice focuses on human rights and religious freedom, and he has appeared before all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He has also appeared before legislative and Parliamentary committees to present on constitutional and legal issues.

Derek serves as a visiting faculty member at Western University’s Faculty of Law, teaching Law & Religion, and is a centre associate with the UBC Centre for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies. He is also a Law Commission of Canada Associate and is contributing to the Commission’s Charity and Law in Canada project. Derek previously served as an Executive Member of the Charity and Not-for-Profit Law and Constitutional and Human Rights Law sections of both the Canadian Bar Association and the Ontario Bar Association. Together with Nour El-Sabah Farhat, he developed and brought forward the CBA resolution, “Commitment to religious equality in the legal profession”, which was formally adopted as policy in 2020.

Derek has long been an advocate for religious inclusion, equality, and freedom, working with diverse faith communities to combat religious discrimination in Canada. He is regularly invited to law faculties and legal conferences to speak on these and other human rights topics.

Derek’s academic writing on the Charter has been cited by Supreme Court of Canada, the Court of Appeal for Ontario, and the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal. His writings have appeared in a number of books and law journals, including The Supreme Court Law Review and the Manitoba Law Journal . He has also written for The Globe and Mail, The National Post , The Montreal Gazette , Law 360, Canadian Lawyer , Policy Options, CBA National , The Hub, National Newswatch, and The Public Discourse. He is the general editor of two editions of The Supreme Court Law Review , which were also published as corresponding books: Assisted Death: Legal Social, and Ethical Issues After Carter ( LexisNexis Canada, 2018), and Canadian Pluralism and the Charter: Moral Diversity in a Free and Democratic Society (LexisNexis Canada, 2019). He also co-edited four volumes on constitutional and human rights law: The Forgotten Fundamental Freedoms of the Charter (LexisNexis Canada, 2020), Forgotten Foundations of the Canadian Cons