History

CIAJ was created at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, and incorporated under Part III of the Canada Corporations Act. The list of CIAJ’s former presidents and executive directors from 1974 to 2024 is available here.

Adoption of a French version of the by-laws; 1^st national seminar for newly appointed provincial court judges (ten-day seminar) in Kingston, Ontario.

First Annual Conference, entitled “The Canadian Judiciary” (every year since then). Past annual conferences are listed here.

Membership was opened to all persons interested in the administration of justice; the first Seminar for new federally appointed judges “NFAJ” was held (every year since then).

CIAJ’s office moved to University of Alberta Faculty of Law in Edmonton and remained there until 1986.

First Judgment Writing Seminar (every year since then).

Creation of the Justice Medal (awarded every two years since then). All recipients are listed at the bottom of this page.

CIAJ’s office moved to the Université de Montreal Faculty of Law and remains in Montreal.

First program for members of administrative tribunals, in Hull. It was attended by members of thirteen federal tribunals; First Seminar on Legislative Drafting and interpretation, in Ottawa (held every two years since then). Past legislative drafting conferences are listed here.

CIAJ prepares to enter the new millennium with the integration of new technologies and creates its first website. Take a trip back in time with the Wayback Machine and see the CIAJ website as it was in 2000.

After 25 years of existence, CIAJ updates its mandate and takes a multidisciplinary approach in identifying and addressing leading-edge issues.

Creation of the Charles D. Gonthier Research Fellowship (awarded annually since then). All recipients and research reports can be found on this page.

First National Roundtable on Administration Law, entitled “Exclusive and Concurrent Jurisdiction” (held every year since then). Past roundtables on administrative law are listed here.

First online program (webinar) entitled “Inviting Drafting Instructions”; Creation of the Christine Huglo Robertson Essay Prize for Law Students (awarded annually since then). All recipients are listed at the bottom of this page.

CIAJ celebrates its 40^th Anniversary, reviews its statutes and takes its first steps on social media. Today, is active on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

Creation of the President’s Award (awarded every two years); First blog post, entitled “Why CIAJ is as relevant as ever after 42 years.”

Creation of CIAJ’s podcast channel “In All Fairness” and release of the first episode, entitled “Welcome to Judgment Writing School!”

CIAJ’s podcast channel “In All Fairness” was named one of the best podcasts of 2023 by Clawbies.

Celebration of CIAJ’s 50th anniversary at the Hotel Vogue in Montreal, with The Right Honourable Richard Wagner, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada, as Honorary Chair.