A Queen’s University law professor whose research helped reshape how Canadian courts treat the voices of children has won Ontario’s highest award for legal writing.
Nicholas Bala, a professor at Queen’s University Faculty of Law in Kingston, has been named the recipient of the 2025 David Walter Mundell Medal. The award recognizes excellence in legal writing.
Bala is widely recognized as an expert in family and children’s law. His decades of research have influenced how the justice system evaluates testimony from children and youth.
Interdisciplinary research
Bala’s work spans multiple fields. He has collaborated with psychologists, criminologists and health professionals to study how legal proceedings affect children, youth and families.
That research has contributed to policy and legal reform, including new approaches for assessing how children’s testimony is gathered and used in court. His writing also addresses how children’s interests are considered in family disputes.
His work reaches a wide audience. According to the province, his writing speaks to policy-makers, academics, legal practitioners and judges.
Extensive publishing record
Bala has written or co-authored 26 books and more than 200 articles and book chapters. Courts across Canada have cited his work, including in key Supreme Court of Canada decisions. His research has also been cited internationally, in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore.
He has received several honours for his contributions, including:
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
- Law Society Medal from the Law Society of Ontario
- William R. Lederman Distinguished Professor designation at Queen’s University, awarded in 2019
Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey presented the award. “Ensuring that the voices and interests of children are recognized in the justice system is essential — and few have done more to advance that goal for children and families than Professor Nicholas Bala,” Downey said. “His decades of research, excellence in legal writing and advocacy irrefutably stand as a testament to his distinction and make him a worthy recipient of the 2025 Mundell Medal.”
The Mundell Medal is awarded by the Ontario government to recognize outstanding contributions to legal writing in the province.
