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2020 | Special Webcast: Will COVID-19 Be the Catalyst We Were Waiting for to Modernize the Courts?

Program Episode 1

Date
Webcast on May 20, 2020

90-minute special webcast with simultaneous interpretation
Participation in this program is accredited in provinces where CLE requirements for lawyers are mandatory.

Overview

In his latest book, Online Courts and the Future of Justice, Professor Richard Susskind, one of the world’s most-cited authors on the future of legal services, writes about how online courts are destined to transform litigation. Our distinguished guests will debate whether technology can transform the legal system and offer better access to justice.

Speakers

Moderator: The Honourable Justice James W. O’Reilly, Federal Court; President, CIAJ

2020 | National Roundtable on Administrative Law: Towards a Unified Theory of Administrative Law?

Program

Date

May 29,  2020

Program accredited in provinces where CLE requirements for lawyers are mandatory. 

Scroll down to see the videos

  • Welcome Remarks (00:04:33)
    Co-Chairs: • Mr. Michael Gottheil, Chief of the Commission and Tribunals, Alberta Human Rights Commission • Mr. Athanasios Hadjis, Senior Legal Counsel, Administrative Tribunals Support Service of Canada • The Honourable Justice W. James O’Reilly, Federal Court; President, CIAJ
  • Introduction (00:12:18): Towards a Unified Theory of Administrative Law?
    With Lauren J. Wihak, Lawyer, McDougall Gauley LLP Barristers + Solicitors

  • Panel 1 (00:58:14): The Vavilov Framework
    With Professor Paul Daly, Chair in Administrative Law and Governance, University of Ottawa
  • Panel 2 (00:42:07): What Is the Role of Tribunals ***Note: image quality is low
    With Mr. Geoff Plant, Q.C. (former Attorney General of British Columbia responsible for the introduction of the Administrative Tribunals Act in BC)
  • Panel 3 (01:02:08): Time Is on My Side—but Should it Be?
    With Ms. Shannon Salter, Chair, Civil Resolution Tribunal; Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia
  • Panel 4 (01:16:30): Long (Or Short) Arm of the Law
    With Ms. Alyssa Tomkins, Partner, Caza Saikaly, Ottawa • Professor Nicolas Lambert, Faculty of Law, Université de Moncton • The Honourable Justice Lorne Sossin, Superior Court of Justice (Ontario)
  • Panel 5 and Closing Remarks (01:11:04): Towards a Unified Theory of Administrative Law. Is It Possible? Is It Desirable?
    With The Honourable Justice Yves-Marie Morissette, Court of Appeal of Quebec (TBC) • Mr. Michael Gottheil, Chief of the Commission and Tribunals, Alberta Human Rights Commission • Mr. Peter Engelmann, Goldblatt Partners, LLP

Related PowerPoint presentations and papers are available in the library under "documentation."

2020 | Special Webcast: Will COVID-19 Be the Catalyst We Were Waiting for to Modernize the Courts?

Program Episode 1

Date
Webcast on May 20, 2020

90-minute special webcast with simultaneous interpretation
Participation in this program is accredited in provinces where CLE requirements for lawyers are mandatory.
Specific accreditation: 1 hour and 30 minutes of Professionalism content (Ontario)

Overview

In his latest book, Online Courts and the Future of Justice, Professor Richard Susskind, one of the world’s most-cited authors on the future of legal services, writes about how online courts are destined to transform litigation. Our distinguished guests will debate whether technology can transform the legal system and offer better access to justice.

Speakers

Moderator: The Honourable Justice James W. O’Reilly, Federal Court; President, CIAJ

2020 | Webinar series on “What to Do When Crisis Strikes”

Program Episode 1 Program Episode 2 Program Episode 3 Program Episode 4 Program Episode 5

Date

March, April and May 2020

List of webinars (scroll down to access the videos)

  • Episode 1, March 25, 2020: Becoming the Boss of Your Mental Health: Self-Management Practices for Anxiety in the Workplace (1.25 hour CPD)
    With Ms. Nadia Hammouda, English Community Lead, Revivre *** This episode is for CIAJ Members only.
  • Episode 2, April 1, 2020: Mindfulness and Meditation Practices in Times of Crisis (0.75 hour CPD)
    With Ms. Heather Cross, Lawyer, Here + Now
  • Episode 3, April 8, 2020: Stuck at Home: Tips and Tricks for Surviving (And Thriving) During a Crisis (1 hour CPD)
    With Valérie Gobeil, Lawyer, Head of Development, GSoft and Tamara Mosher-Kuczer, Lawyer, Capelle Kane
  • Episode 4, April 22, 2020: Building Mental Health into Emergency Management and Business Continuity Programs (1 hour CPD)
    With Liz Horvath, B.A.Sc., CRSP, Manager, Workplace Mental Health, Opening Minds, Mental Health Commission of Canada
  • Episode 5, May 6, 2020: Administrative Tribunals and COVID-19: Challenges, Solutions and Takeaways (1 hour CPD)
    With Jennifer Khurana, Vice-Chairperson, Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, and David A. Wright, Chair, Law Society Tribunal, Ontario

 

2020 | Webinar Series on Legislative Drafting

Program Episode 1 Program Episode 2

Date
The first episode of this series was webcast on February 19, 2020

List of webinars (scroll down to access the videos)

  • Episode 1, February 19, 2020: Vavilov: Impact on Legislative Drafting (75 minutes CPD)
    With Professor Paul Daly, Chair in Administrative Law and Governance, University of Ottawa. Moderator: Professor John Mark Keyes, University of Ottawa

  • Episode 2, June 17, 2020: Judicial Review of Delegated Legislation: The Long and Winding Road to Vavilov (90 minutes CPD)
    With Professor John Mark Keyes, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, University of Ottawa. Moderator: Professor Mistrale Goudreau, Civil Law Section University of Ottawa

2020 | Webinar Series on Administrative Law

Program Episode 1 Program Episode 2

Date
The first episode of this series was webcast on January 30, 2020

List of webinars (scroll down to access the videos)

  • Episode 1: January 30, 2020: New Standard of Review: The Essentials (1 hour CPD)
    With The Honourable Justice David W. Stratas, Federal Court of Appeal (Speaker) and Dr. Gerald Heckman, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba (Moderator)
    This webinar is made possible thanks to the technical support of the Federal Court of Appeal.
  • Episode 2: May 25, 2020: Six Months of Vavilov, Where Are We Now? (1 hour CPD)
    With Professor Paul Daly, Chair in Administrative Law and Governance, University of Ottawa

2020 | Making Laws in a Post-Modern World: Are You Ready?

Program

Date

Online program in 4 parts of 3 hours each, on September 10-18-24 and October 1, 2020.

Program accredited in provinces where CLE requirements for lawyers are mandatory. 

***Some technical problems occurred during the live broadcasts. The video prices have been revised accordingly***

Scroll down to see the videos

  • Part 1, September 10, 2020 (2:32:56): Post-Modern Law (Jump to 00:18:50 for the beginning of the Conference)
    - From 00:18:50: Keynote Address: Machine-Made Law –The Next Step in AI? 
    With Professor Gillian Hadfield
    - Law as Code: Drafting Laws to Facilitate the Automated Delivery of Law
    With Jason Morris, Scott McNaughton, Marek Bilinski (Technical issues, incomplete session), Jennifer Dufresne and Charles Duperreault

  • Part 2a, September 18, 2020 (2:14:01): Legislative Drafting 
    - Gender Inclusivity in Legal Discourse
    With Louise Langevin, Kyle Kirkup (In French Only)
    Part 2b, September 18, 2020 (00:38:32)
    - Gender Inclusivity in Legal Discourse

    With Peter Birt (Original presentation in English)

  • Part 3, September 24, 2020 (1:48:51): Legislative Interpretation
    - From 00:10:27: Legislative Interpretation: Interpretative Presumptions / Deeming Provisions / Transitional Provisions
    With France Allard and Sylvie Parent

  • Part 4, October 1, 2020 (2:40:07): Regulatory Matters
    - Post-Modern Regulation: Keeping up With a Changing World
    With Patricia Pledge and Claude Lesage
    - Regulation-Making Powers: Balancing Parliamentary Sovereignty Regulatory Flexibility and Judicial Review
    With Lorne Neudorf, Lerissa Thaver and Ajay Ramkumar

Related PowerPoint presentations and papers are available in the library under "documentation."

2019 | The Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Social Media on Legal Institutions

Program

Date

October 16-18,  2019

Program accredited in provinces where CLE requirements for lawyers are mandatory. / Formation dont l’admissibilité a été confirmée par le Barreau du Québec aux fins de la formation continue obligatoire.

Theme

The 2019 annual conference on the impact of artificial intelligence and social media on legal institutions is taking a hard, critical look at the challenges that courts and the legal profession must face in order to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice.

Our relationship with information is being disrupted by technology: our means of communication are evolving, information is flowing in a network of complicated channels, and language is changing with the plethora of acronyms and emoticons that arise every day.

Artificial intelligence designers are proposing inventions that assist with human decision-making. Documentary evidence today includes screen shots, the traceability of which is questionable. The legal guarantees for reputation and privacy protection are colliding with information dissemination and the use of it for often questionable purposes.

How can courts and the legal profession evolve and adapt to new technologies to ensure that they remain consistent in their mission to promote and protect the administration of justice?

Co-Chairs

  • Mr. Patrick A. Molinari, Ad. E., FRSC, Lavery Lawyers; President, CIAJ
  • The Honourable Justice James O’Reilly, Federal Court; First Vice-President, CIAJ

Planning Committee

  • Professor Benjamin Alarie
  • The Honourable Justice Frances Kiteley
  • Mr. Eric Lavallée
  • Ms. Christine O’Doherty
  • The Honourable Justice P. Colleen Suche
  • Professor Pierre Trudel
  • Professor Martine Valois, Ad. E.
  • Professor Nicolas Vermeys

List of webinars and language (scroll down to access the videos)

  • Panel 1 (1:22:10): The Risks and Rewards of Emerging Technologies
    With Derek Ruths (in English), Jennifer Stairs (in English) and Lorne Sossin (in English)
  • Panel 2 (1:11:34): The Influence of Social Media on the Work of Decision-Makers
    With Pierre Trudel (in French), Peter D. Lauwers (in English) and Frances Kiteley (in English)
  • Panel 3 (1:16:14): How Will Technology Alter the Truth-Seeking Process and Its Legitimacy?
    With Mark J. Sandler (in English), Sophie Bourque (in French) and Yves Boisvert (in French)
  • Panel 4 (1:-09:58): Value Extraction from Data Collection: Will We Be Needing Lawyers in the Digital Era?
    With Alain Lavoie (in French), Eric Lavallée (in French) and Benjamin Alarie (in English)
  • Panel 5 (1:28:05): Protection in the Internet Era: Privacy, Defamation and Online Reputation
    With Pierre-Luc Déziel (in French), Sue Gratton (in English) and Frédéric Letendre (in French)
  • Panel 8 (1:31:18): Student Panel: Vulnerability and Control: Deepfakes, Image-Based Abuse and Online Harm
    With Yuan Stevens (in English), Nareg Froundijian (in English) and Suzie Dunn (in English), after Xavier Dionne's opening presentation in French)
  • Panel 9 (1:29:18): Increasing Sources of Information and Integrity of the Law
    With Laurence Bich-Carrière (in French) and Nicolas Vermeys (in French)
  • Panel 10 (1:24:43): Do Modern Communication Techniques and Public Opinion Affect Judicial Decision-Making?
    With Charles Moumouni (in English), Lucie Rondeau in French) and Michele H. Hollins (in English)

Related PowerPoint presentations and papers are available in the library under "documentation."

Note: Panels 6 and 7 are not available.

2019 | Mesurer la prescriptivité de la réglementation canadienne (in French)

Programme PowerPoint

Date

Le mercredi 20 mars 2019

Ce webinaire de 90 minutes est parrainé par le programme de diplôme post-baccalauréat en rédaction législative de l’Université Athabasca.

Thème

Les légistes suivent des consignes standardisées pour la rédaction de textes législatifs et réglementaires. Dans ce webinaire, nous verrons comment de tels standards peuvent faciliter l’extraction d’informations fondée sur des règles. En s’appuyant sur une étude de cas portant sur la réforme de la réglementation, le professeur Alschner expliquera comment appliquer les règles issues de la rédaction législative pour mesurer automatiquement la prescriptivité (un concept relatif concernant les commandements par rapport aux autorisations) des règlements fédéraux canadiens. La prescriptivité a été mesurée en comptant les termes associés à la signalisation dans un corpus de 2 300 règlements canadiens. Les résultats obtenus sont significatifs quant aux caractéristiques des textes réglementaires pouvant être pertinentes pour l’élaboration de politiques. Ces résultats offrent des paramètres de base en vue d’effectuer une réforme de la réglementation. Ils attirent notre attention sur la valeur des analyses faites à partir de règles tirées de la rédaction législative. Le professeur Alschner présentera également un prototype de logiciel qui facilite l’examen des règlements en aidant les autorités à distinguer une « bonne » réglementation d’une « mauvaise » réglementation devant être modifiée ou abrogée.

Conférencier

Le professeur Wolfgang Alschner, Faculté de droit – Section de droit civil, Université d’Ottawa

Wolfgang Alschner est un spécialiste du droit économique international et de l’analyse computationnelle du droit. Il enseigne à la Section de Common Law de la Faculté de droit de l’Université d’Ottawa, de même qu’à l’École de science informatique et de génie électrique de la Faculté de génie. Il fait partie des chercheurs du Centre de recherche en droit, technologie et société de la même université. Avant de se joindre à l’Université d’Ottawa, Me Alschner a travaillé à titre de chercheur indépendant pour la Section sur les accords internationaux d’investissement de la CNUCED pendant plusieurs années. Il a aussi été chercheur invité à l’Institut de hautes études de Genève ainsi qu’au World Trade Institute à Berne, en Suisse. Me Alschner est titulaire d’un doctorat en droit international de l’Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement de Genève, d’une maîtrise de la Stanford Law School, d’une maîtrise en affaires internationales de l’Institut de hautes études, de même que d’un LL.B. de l’University of London et d’un baccalauréat en relations internationales de l’Université de Dresde, en Allemagne.
Modératrice: La professeure Mistrale Goudreau, Faculté de droit – Section de droit civil, Université d’Ottawa

2019 | A Rules-based Approach to Measuring Prescriptivity in Canadian Regulations

Program PowerPoint

Date

Monday, March 11, 2019

Sponsored by the Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in Legislative Drafting program at Athabasca University

Theme

Legislative drafters follow formalized conventions when crafting statutory and regulatory texts. Professor Wolfgang Alschner will explore how such conventions can facilitate rules-based information extraction. Using regulatory reform as a case study, he will show how to apply rules derived from legislative drafting to automatically measure prescriptivity—a relative concept of commands in relation to permissions—in federal Canadian regulations. We measured prescriptivity by counting associated signaling terms across a corpus of 2,300 Canadian regulations. The resulting prescriptivity scores meaningfully describe policy-relevant characteristics of regulatory texts. These scores provide a basic metric to inform regulatory reform and highlight the value of rules-based analytics derived from legislative drafting conventions. Professor Alschner will also discuss how to facilitate the review of regulations using a software prototype that helps regulators to tell a “good” regulation worth preserving from a “bad” one in need of amendment or repeal.

Speaker

Professor Wolfgang Alschner, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, University of Ottawa

Wolfgang Alschner is an empirical legal scholar specialized in international economic law and the computational analysis of law. He is a permanent faculty member of the Common Law Section with cross-appointment to the Faculty of Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He is also a faculty member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society at the University of Ottawa. Wolfgang holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, a Master of Law from Stanford Law School, a Master in International Affairs from the Graduate Institute as well as an LLB from the University of London and a BA in International Relations from the University of Dresden, Germany.

Moderator: Professor John Mark Keyes, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, University of Ottawa

2018 | Justice and Mental Health

Program

Date

Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Friday, October 19, 2018

Theme

The theme of Justice and Mental Health will be discussed by panellists who will attempt to bridge the gap between the Justice and Healthcare systems; what is the interrelation between vulnerable groups and mental illness as it plays out in the courts (civil and criminal) and administrative tribunals?

Speakers from various disciplines, including lawyers, judges, psychologists, psychiatrists, correctional professionals and social workers, will approach issues in an inclusive manner that incorporates the diverse perspectives of the various populations and advocates concerned. Among others, we will view the two systems through the lens of a medical context, a social context, a correctional view and a rehabilitation-centred view. We will also hear stories from individuals that have passed through the criminal and healthcare spheres, and have come out the other side with a unique perspective on the systems at play. The conference will conclude with a student panel entitled Law and Happiness, where we will explore how mental health issues affect law students and lawyers. What resources are available to manage the mental health of those who operate within the legal profession

It has been said that courts are the emergency rooms for unaddressed mental health issues. This conference will assess the tools available to the justice system to manage such issues when they arise with respect to litigants, witnesses and the accused.

Honorary Chair

  • Senator Kim Pate, Senate of Canada

Co-Chairs

  • Mr. Patrick A. Molinari, Ad. E., FRSC, Lavery Lawyers, President, CIAJ
  • The Hon. James O’Reilly, Federal Court, First Vice-President, CIAJ

Planning Committee

  • Mr. Mark Benton, Q.C. CEO, Legal Services Society of British Columbia
  • Deputy Commissioner Brenda Butterworth-Carr, Commanding Officer, E Division, RCMP
  • Professor Jennifer Chandler, Faculty of Law - Common Law Section, University of Ottawa
  • The Honourable Judge Dominique Larochelle, Court of Quebec
  • Ms. Sapna Mahajan, Director, Mental Health Prevention and Promotion – Workplace Initiatives Mental Health Commission of Canada
  • Mr. André A. Morin, Ad. E., Chief Federal Prosecutor, Public Prosecution Service of Canada
  • The Honourable Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin, Superior Court of Justice, Ontario
  • The Honourable Justice P. Colleen Suche, Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench, CIAJ Second Vice-President
  • Professor Martine Valois, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • Mr. David A. Wright Chair, Law Society Tribunal

2018 | Charting Legislative Courses in a Complex World

Program

Date

Wednesday, September 13, 2018
Thursday, September 14, 2018

Theme

The 2018 bi-annual Legislative Drafting Conference will tackle one of the most pervasive challenges in modern legislation: complexity, beginning with its principal drivers in public policy. Why does our world generate legislative complexity? And how can legislation address this complexity intelligibly, coherently and effectively?

Conference sessions will also focus on examples of today’s complexity challenges in international trading relationships, cannabis de-criminalization and the interaction of state law with indigenous legal traditions. Other sessions will focus on pragmatic drafting solutions to particular facets of these challenges, such as interjurisdictional coherence, resolving policy blockages, drafting for clients with limited policy-resources and achieving legislative coherence over time. The conference will include a wide range of speakers from Canada, the UK and beyond.

Planning committee

Co-Chairs 

  • Annette M. Boucher
  • John Mark Keyes

Members

  • Richard Denis
  • Janet Erasmus
  • Wendy Gordon
  • Laura Hopkins
  • Hoi Kong
  • Jacqueline Kuehl
  • Sandra Markman
  • Eric Milligan
  • Melanie Mortensen
  • Peter J. Pagano
  • Isabelle Parrot
  • Mark Spakowski

2018 | L’intention du législateur: un construit juridique (in French)

Program PowerPoint

Date

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

This program contains 1.5 CPD hours in all Canadian provinces.  Sponsored by the post-baccalaureate diploma program in legislative drafting at Athabasca University

Theme 

Au Canada, le principe moderne de Driedger a été déclaré « la méthode d’interprétation législative privilégiée » par la Cour suprême du Canada, mais certains auteurs notent un manque de cohérence des tribunaux dans l’utilisation de ce principe, notamment une alternance déroutante dans leurs décisions entre textualisme et intentionalisme. La thèse selon laquelle l’intention du législateur est en fait un construit juridique permet peut-être de sortir de ce malaise conceptuel, ce qui fera l’objet de cette présentation.

Speaker

Professor Mistrale Goudreau
Faculty of Law – Civil Law Section | University of Ottawa

2017 | Legislative Drafting: Mathematics in Legislation

Program Details PowerPoint

Date

Tuesday, November 14, 2017 & Wednesday, November 15, 2017

This program contains 1.5 CPD hours in all Canadian provinces.  Sponsored by the post-baccalaureate diploma program in legislative drafting at Athabasca University

Theme

Legislation usually consists of words written in accordance with the linguistic conventions of a particular natural language such as English or French. But if you look closely, you will see that it sometimes has features derived from mathematics rather than natural languages. In this webinar, Nicky Armstrong, an experienced Australasian legislative counsel now working in New Zealand, will take you through the various ways mathematical symbols and calculations crop up in legislation and how they can be used effectively to convey complex ideas.


Speaker

Ms. Nicky Armstrong, Parliamentary Counsel, New Zealand

Ms. Nicky Armstrong graduated from the University of Western Australia with a BJuris (Hons) (1988) and LLB (1989) and was admitted to practice in Western Australia in 1991. After graduating, she worked in one of Australia’s largest commercial law firms for 5 years before joining the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel’s Office as a drafter. Nicky worked there for 15 years before moving to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel in Australia’s Northern Territory in 2010. In 2015, she moved to New Zealand to take up her current role as a parliamentary counsel at the NZ Parliamentary Counsel Office.

2017 | Legislative Drafting and Legislated Forms: Plato, Prescription and Paradox

Program Details PowerPoint

Date

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

This program is offered by an accredited provider of professionalism content and is eligible for up to 1.5 Substantive Hours. Sponsored by the post-baccalaureate diploma program in legislative drafting at Athabasca University.

Theme

Administrative forms may seem trivial, but they are essential to many operations of government. Forms are often a key means of communication between the public and public officials; they enable access to government services and they structure flows of information in both directions. But what is a form? What are legislators actually doing when they require one? Who should establish forms, and how much tolerance for deviations should there be? This webinar will address these and related issues from the perspective of the legislative drafter and adviser.

Speaker

The webinar will be conducted by Lawrence Purdy, an experienced drafter at both the national and subnational levels. The presentation is based on one Lawrence gave last August in Halifax at the Joint Conference of the Canadian Associations of Parliamentary and Legislative Counsel.

2017 | The Charter Challenge Conundrum: The Clash of Rights and Values and the Canadian Cultural Mosaic (Cultural and Religious Diversity in the Administration of Justice)

Program Details

Date

Monday, October 2, 2017
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Theme

What is the effect of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the resolution of issues of culture and religion? Are the courts getting the mix right? Is the law falling behind or is it leading?

It is commonplace to speak of Canada as a multi-cultural or multi-ethnic society and these characteristics must figure in any consideration of diversity in the administration of justice. Diversity is an encompassing term that allows for multiple forms of social groupings but also multiple themes that cross between and among social groupings. Diversity is thus an appropriate term with which to examine the manner in which public institutions serve the interests of inclusiveness and equality in the administration of justice.

An important dimension of this conference is the examination of the manner in which public institutions have and should evolve to advance values of inclusiveness and equality, including an assessment of their shortcomings. Another broad dimension focuses on substantive issues (language, religion, race, culture, etc.) concerning complementarity and contradiction between values of diversity and equality.

Albert V. Dicey, the noted British constitutional theorist, propounded a conception of the rule of law in terms of "the equal subjection of all classes to the ordinary law of the land administered by the ordinary courts". The Canadian Bill of Rights and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms endorses this conception of the rule of law. Section 15 of the Charter provides that “Every individual is equal before and under the law…". If the same law applies equally to every individual, what is the argument then concerning the importance of taking into account religious and cultural diversity in the legal system? Is it a question of acknowledging the different perceptions that these cultural or religious groups have regarding the law and the administration of justice in general, or rather that the Canadian legal system must adapt and change its substantive norms to reflect these different perceptions?

These issues play out in every aspect of the administration of justice: for the police, for civil and criminal courts and tribunals. This conference is thus relevant to all actors in the administration of justice.

Honorary Chair

  • The Honourable Nicole Duval Hesler, Chief Justice of Quebec

Co-Chairs

  • The Honourable Georgina R. Jackson, Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan, CIAJ President
  • Mr. Patrick A. Molinari, Ad. E., FRSC, Lavery, Montreal, CIAJ Vice-President

Planning Committee

  • Professor Natasha Bakht, Faculty of Law - Common Law Section, University of Ottawa
  • The Honourable Danielle Côté, Associate Chief Judge - Criminal and Penal Division, Court of Québec
  • Ms. Rime El Rhoul, Student, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • Dean Jean-François Gaudreault-Desbiens, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • The Honourable Sheilah Martin, Court of Appeal for Alberta
  • The Honourable Shaun Nakatsuru, Ontario Superior Court of Justice
  • The Honourable James O’Reilly, Federal Court of Canada
  • Professor Marilyn Poitras, College of Law, University of Saskatchewan
  • Professor Martine Valois, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal

2016 | Civil Justice and Economics: A Matter of Value

Program Details

Date

Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016

Theme

What is the value of justice? Does justice have a price tag? The question is intriguing. But justice certainly has a cost. It is part of the world where material resources and time are limited. Can we put dollar figures on justice? Certainly. Should we? Therein lies the dilemma. Since justice is financed from public funds, some would argue that governments should be able to measure its quality, performance and accessibility. Governments are required to report on court house costs, delays and other expenses; and to those numbers must be added expenses incurred by litigants and the costs associated with the lack of justice i.e., self-representation or people abandoning rights recognized by our laws. The absence of reliable data on judicial activity poses many problems. The development of reforms based on inaccurate data and the absence of a documented monitoring of the implemented reforms within the justice system attest that the legal culture is not transparent.

What information does justice need about its own activity? What do we know about its activity? How can we improve the practice of law, and the processes of the law, and, thereby, improve access to justice? How can we better understand and measure the activities of our legal institutions? What are the underlying notions of justice? Can justice be measured? What are the social returns from offering the resolution of civil justice disputes in the courts? Whose job is it to decide how much justice a citizen gets? Whose job is it to decide about proportionality in justice? Can society countenance a $200,000 cost to the litigant, and the concomitant costs to the civil justice system, of a $50,000 dispute? By asking this question and seeking a solution to it, do we risk treating justice as a commodity to be packaged, bought and sold? In the absence of data, what steps is the system taking to improve and to provide the means to fulfill the fundamentals of civil justice? What insights can an economic focus lend to an analysis of how to improve civil justice? Are we offering too much or too little access? Do the courts have the tools to curb misuse and abuse that are taking civil justice dollars without giving a perceived value? If self-represented litigants are a consequence of expensive justice costs and also a cause of delay, should we be more focussed on them, and if so, how could this be done? Do courts need to direct private justice civil processes even more than they do now?

Honorary Chair

  • The Honourable Justice Thomas Cromwell, Chair, Action Committee on Access to Civil and Family Justice

Co-Chairs

  • The Honourable Justice Georgina R. Jackson, Court of Appeal for Saskatchewan; CIAJ President
  • Mr. Patrick A. Molinari, Ad. E., FRSC, Legal Counsel, Lavery, Montreal

Planning Committee

  • Mr. Mark Benton, Chief Executive Officer, Legal Services Society, British Columbia
  • Dean Natalie Des Rosiers, Faculty of Law – Common Law Section, University of Ottawa
  • Ms. Virginia A. Engel, Q.C., ICD.D, Partner, Peacock Linder Halt & Mack, Calgary
  • Professor Trevor Farrow, Osgoode Hall Law School, President, Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, Toronto
  • Mr. Michael Gottheil, Executive Chair, Social Justice Tribunals, Ontario
  • Professor Ejan Mackaay, Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • Ms. Michèle Moreau, Executive Director, CIAJ
  • The Honourable Justice Yves-Marie Morissette, Court of Appeal of Quebec
  • Professor Pierre Noreau, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • Ms. Tijana Potkonjak, Student, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
  • Mr. John Sims, Past Deputy Minister and Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice, Ottawa
  • Professor Martine Valois, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
  • Mr. Grant Wedge, Executive Director, Policy, Equity and Public Affairs, LSUC, Ontario

2016 | The New Legislative Counsel: At the Intersection of Law, Policy and Politics

Program details

Date

Monday, September 12, 2016
Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Theme

The theme of the conference is the "new legislative counsel". It will begin by considering new political realities that have altered not only the policy content of legislation, but also the way it is developed and prepared, and indeed its political significance as a tool of government. Consideration will also be given to how the media and communications now affect the preparation and enactment of legislation.

The conference will then turn to the role of legislative counsel and how they can equip themselves to work in this new environment. It will include practical sessions focusing on the use of legislative precedents and technological innovations in drafting.

Topics include:

  • Political Perspectives
  • Communications Perspectives
  • The Pull of Precedent
  • The Roles of Legislative Counsel
  • Technology and Drafting

Planning committee

  • Ms. Annette Boucher
  • Mr. Jean-François Couture
  • Mr. Richard Denis
  • Mr. Philippe Dufresne
  • Ms. Janet Erasmus, Q.C.
  • Mr. Philippe Hallée
  • Ms. Laura Hopkins
  • Mr. John Mark Keyes
  • Ms. Barbara Kincaid
  • Mr. Hoi Kong
  • Ms. Melanie Mortensen
  • Ms. Pamela Muir
  • Mr. Peter Pagano, Q.C.
  • Mr. Michel Patrice
  • Mr. Mark Spakowski

2016 | Interpretation Acts

Program details

Date

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Theme

Interpretation Acts are the lynch-pins of the statute book. They establish its structure and organizational principles. They define fundamental concepts that constantly recur in legislation. Lord Thring, the first First Parliamentary Counsel, said "It is the duty of every draftsman to know it by heart and to bear its definitions in mind in every bill which he draws."

This Webinar will consider Interpretation Acts, including the revised Model Interpretation Act recently adopted by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada. It will also consider Interpretation Acts from an Australian perspective. 

The Webinar will be led by two of the most experienced legislative counsel in the Commonwealth: Peter Pagano, the Chief Legislative Counsel of Alberta, and Eamonn Moran, Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and formerly the Chief Parliamentary Counsel of Victoria (Australia) and the Law Draftsman of Hong Kong.

2015 | Technology-Neutral Drafting

Program details PowerPoint

Date

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Theme

Much legislation still mandates or contemplates the use of written material and processes that require paper documents.  The implementation of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce through Electronic Transactions Acts in many jurisdictions has permitted the use of electronic technologies as an alternative to paper.  While legislation of this kind may be useful in the context of commercial transactions, it may not always clearly apply where government processes are involved.

This presentation will explore the problem of drafting legislation to allow for both paper and electronic processes, particularly in the governmental context. The key questions covered include:

  • to what extent does the use in legislation of many apparently paper-centric terms (such as document, written, signature, sealed and certified) inhibit the implementation and use of electronic technologies?
  • what role can interpretation legislation and Electronic Transactions Acts play?
  • can judges, through the application of statutory interpretation principles, help?
  • is it possible to future-proof legislation to cater for ongoing developments in electronic technologies?