Daniel Gordon Pole: Over 40 years of practice and scores of notable reported international and Canadian cases.
Legal Experience
Mr. Pole was called to the bar of New Brunswick (1987), Ontario (1991) Armenia (2008), qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales (2009) and appointed as non-African counsel to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (2019). He is appointed as an Authorized Immigration Representative by the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (2023). He began practicing law in New Brunswick, Canada with Brewer MacPherson Quinn where he became managing partner before relocating to Ontario, Canada in 1991. Since he has practised as the Law Offices of Daniel Gordon Pole, LL.B., and as counsel to W.G. How & Associates.
Mr. Pole is a founding associate and Canadian representative for Lawyers Associated for Human Rights in Africa, Asia and the Americas (LAHRA). LAHRA is an international association of human rights lawyers who act pro bono as counsel for, and advisors to, individuals suffering human rights abuses globally.
His legal work in Canada includes human rights, Charter and Constitutional litigation, family and criminal law and he has over 60 reported cases in Canadian and international courts including the Supreme Court of Canada.
He has appeared or assisted as counsel in courts of every Canadian province (except P.E.I.) and before international human rights tribunals including the European Court of Human Rights, UN Human Rights Committee, African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Inter-American Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
Mr. Pole is a founding associate and Canadian representative for Lawyers Associated for Human Rights in Africa, Asia and the Americas (LAHRA). LAHRA is an international association of human rights lawyers who act pro bono as counsel for, and advisors to, individuals suffering human rights abuses globally.
Practice focus: family law, criminal law, international human rights; duty counsel for Legal Aid Ontario; Provincial Appeal Committee; Chair, Dufferin-Peel Law Association Library Committee (2005–2018).
Charter, child custody and medical freedom cases; appearances in appellate courts across Canada.
Complex human rights litigation across multiple provinces; courtroom and appellate advocacy.
International and Advisory Roles
Mr. Pole has contributed to human rights advocacy globally and is appointed to the list of Non‑African Counsel to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He has appeared or acted as counsel in legal matters in, among other jurisdictions, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Eritrea, Kenya, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nigeria and Ukraine and before the ECHR, UN HRC, IACHR, ACERWC and ACHPR.
He is a founding associate of Lawyers Associated for Human Rights in Africa, Asia and the Americas (LAHRA) and lectured and taught seminars on human rights and the law since 2008.
Teaching and Seminars
Mr. Pole taught Canadian Law at Sheridan University from 1999 to 2006 and for the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario (ILCO) and the Law Society of Ontario (LSO), including civil procedure, family law, and professional responsibility. He has guest lectured for the University of Toronto, the University of New Brunswick, the Canadian Bar Association and local bar associations.
- Sheridan University
- Instructor, Canadian Law (1999–2006); and member, Legal Program Advisory Committee
- Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario
- Instructor: Family Law, Civil Litigation (1998–2002)
- Law Society of Ontario
- Bar Admission instructor (1999-2006): Civil Procedure, Family Law, Professional Responsibility;
- Mentor Graduate Law Program Ryerson University (2008-2012)
- International Human Rights Seminars
- Lectures and seminars globally since 2008 with LAHRA
- Other Lectures
- Presentations to judiciary and legal profession including Ontario Conference of Judges and local law associations.
Selected Professional Publications
Rights of Minorities in Tribal Communities in Zambia
The Commonwealth Lawyer, 2025
The Sword In the Stone: A Practical Test of A Minor’s Competence to Instruct Counsel
Ontario Conference of Judges, 2007
Liability of Religious Charities: A New Frontier
The Philanthropist, 2006
Trying to Put the Genie Back in the Lamp: U.v. Alberta
Reports of Family Law, 2003
Medico-Legal Issues in the Care of Jehovah's Witnesses
3rd Transfusion-Free Medicine & Surgery International Conference, 1998
Religion and Culture in Canadian Family Law
Canadian Family Law Quarterly, 1992
Horton v. Elias and the Judicial Search for Alternatives to Absolute Custody Awards
Canadian Family Law Quarterly, 1991