Date
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Theme
This conference organized by the CIAJ Legislative Drafting Committee, chaired by Mr. John Mark Keyes, Chief Legislative Counsel of Canada, will focus on the intersecting roles of those involved in determining the wording of legislative texts (statutes and regulations). This group most obviously includes legislative drafters whose task is to turn drafting instructions into text. But it also includes those responsible for developing drafting instructions and their underlying policy, whether acting within government or parliamentary institutions as policy officials or legal advisers, or outside these institutions on behalf of interest groups. Draft texts are also often further processed by yet another constituency that includes translators, editors, jurilinguists and bijuralists. Finally, parliamentarians and subordinate legislative authorities are involved in writing, reviewing, amending and adopting draft texts that are presented to them.
The multiplicity of participants in law-making processes poses the question that forms the title of the conference: who really writes the law? What are the distinctive roles of these participants? Are there overlaps or conflicts? Are these roles evolving in response to changes in the political culture or environment for law-making? The conference speakers will consider these questions and more. Conference participants can expect to come away with a better understanding of the legislative landscape and, if not a definitive answer to the main question, at least a point of view.
Planning Committee
- John Mark Keyes, (Chair) Chief Legislative Counsel of Canada, Department of Justice Canada, Ottawa, ON
- France Allard, General Counsel, Manager and Comparative Law Specialist, Department of Justice Canada, Ottawa, ON
- Mark Audcent, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, Senate of Canada, Ottawa, ON
- Pierre Charbonneau, Senior Legislative Counsel, Department of Justice of Quebec, Quebec City, QC
- Richard Denis, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON
- Janet Erasmus, Chief Legislative Counsel of British Columbia, Victoria, BC
- Nicole Fernbach, President, Juricom, Montreal, QC
- Philippe Hallée, Deputy Chief Legislative Counsel, Department of Justice Canada, Ottawa, ON
- Laura Hopkins, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel (Ontario), Toronto, ON
- Judith Keating, Q.C., Chief Legislative Counsel of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB
- Barbara Kincaid, General Counsel, Supreme Court of Canada, Ottawa, ON
- Peter Pagano, Q.C., Chief Legislative Counsel, Department of Justice Alberta, Edmonton, AB
- Donald Revell, Legal Drafting Consultant, former Chief Legislative Counsel of Ontario, Toronto, ON
- Rob Walsh, Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, House of Commons, Ottawa, ON
