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The 2017 Conference of the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsel (CALC) took place in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia from March 29 to April 4, 2017 bringing together nearly 200 members of the Association from all over the British Commonwealth and beyond. It was the 14th such conference since the inaugural one in Hong Kong in 1983.

Commentators have suggested that the rise of populism is a function of the failure of liberal democracy to be relevant to the lives of all but elites. Most people feel alienated from, and abandoned by, democratic institutions. We are told to trust the experts, but that has not turned out so well.

Although judicial review in Canada has undergone a significant shift in the past decade, the rules governing evidence admissible on judicial review have not been changed in any meaningful way since the 19th century. Those rules, generally speaking, still limit the admissibility of so-called “extrinsic” evidence to situations involving alleged ‘‘jurisdictional errors” or a breach of the duty of fairness.

This report, and its recommendations, builds on the work already done and creates significant momentum towards achieving a number of specific objectives that the Roundtable attendees collectively consider critical to more effective management of complex criminal cases, across the system.

The addiction problem can impair the skills necessary to practice law well: ethics, diligence, confidentiality. The individual’s problem can also become the problem of the employer and society as a whole.

In the summer of 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) published its Final Report, including no less that 94 Calls to Action. Among those, the TRC has issued recommendations to ensure that law students and lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, including skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Today, our legal system is once again called to renew itself. Across the country, the long delays and lack of access are underlined repeatedly. Again, we face an unmet social need and the call for social innovation is heard on all fronts…

The Honourable Justice Georgina R. Jackson, President of CIAJ, presents the new President’s Award and offers her congratulations to Professor John Mark Keyes. The President’s Award is presented every other year to honour the work of a volunteer whose leadership has made a difference in the operations of CIAJ. CIAJ also awards the Justice Medal every…

The legal profession is at a turning point. More and more fellow citizens choose to confront their legal problems without the help of lawyers. Legal information is available to anyone who has a smart phone. Everyone has an opinion on any given legal matter making the news…

Technologies are more and more present in the various spheres of our system of justice. Although some progress was made, computing and networking are not yet fully integrated into the judiciary…