Peter Hogg : Ask Biography

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Peter Wardell Hogg, CC, QC, FRSC (born March 12, 1939) is a Canadian lawyer, author and legal scholar. He is best known as a leading authority on Canadian constitutional law.

Born in Lower Hutt, New Zealand, Hogg earned his LL.B from the University of New Zealand in 1962, his LL.M from Harvard University in 1963, and his Ph.D from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia in 1970. In 1970, he was appointed Professor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto and was appointed Dean in 1998. In 2003 he accepted a position as scholar in residence at the law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.

Hogg has written several books, including Constitutional Law of Canada, the single most-cited book in decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada. Recently, he was lead counsel for the Canadian Government in the Supreme Court's same-sex marriage reference. Hogg also advised the committee that studied Marshall Rothstein's nomination to the Supreme Court, saying the creation of the committee was important to Canada's legal history and informing it that it should not ask political questions about abortion and same-sex marriage.