Alan Young, lawyer and scholar known for landmark legal challenges, dies at age 69

Alan Young, a lawyer for sex workers, speaks during a press conference in Toronto, March 26, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Vincent Elkaim

TORONTO -

York University says Alan Young, a lawyer and legal scholar known for leading the challenge of Canada's prostitution laws before the country's top court, has died at age 69.

The university's Osgoode Hall Law School says Young's death on Saturday is a "profound loss" for the legal profession.

Young was a central figure in a landmark Supreme Court case that struck down Canada's prostitution laws as unconstitutional in 2013 and forced the federal government to revise the legislation.

A statement from the university notes that Young was also known for representing people with AIDS, cancer and multiple sclerosis who were charged for using medical marijuana, leading to federal regulations permitting its use.

Canadian Lawyer magazine listed Young among the 25 most influential people in the legal profession over several years.

York's law school dean Trevor Farrow says in a statement that the entire Osgoode community sends its condolences to Young's family.

"Known and loved by many of our colleagues and generations of students, Alan was a trailblazer who made huge contributions not only to Osgoode, but to the law and legal profession in Canada," Farrow said.

Adam Parachin, a professor at Osgoode and one of Young's former students, said he was "blessed to have known" him.

"Alan was brilliant and a `one of a kind' character. His sharp wit made criminal law an early favourite of mine at Osgoode," Parachin said in a statement.

Young's legal career began when he graduated from Osgoode Hall in 1981, and he worked as a clerk at the Supreme Court of Canada before earning a master of law degree from Harvard University.

Young returned to Osgoode as a professor in 1986, where he co-founded and directed the school's Innocence Project, investigating wrongful convictions and imprisonment. He retired from York University several years ago.

"His passion for criminal law was infectious, and many caught the bug from him," Superior Court Justice James Stribopoulos said in a statement.

"There is a whole generation of leading criminal lawyers in Canada whose beginnings are traced directly to Alan."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 9, 2024.

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