Episode 85: 2024 Public Law Conference: Rights, Duties, and Powers
This podcast is available on your favourite platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Subscribe, rate, and leave a comment! Please write us to info@ciaj-icaj.ca if you wish to receive an email when a new podcast is published.
Episode 85: 2024 Public Law Conference: Rights, Duties, and Powers
Broadcast Date: May 28, 2024
Summary
In this episode, uOttawa Associate Professor Vanessa MacDonnell welcomes The Honourable Sheilah L. Martin, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Public Law Conference, which will be held from July 3rd to July 5, 2024, in Ottawa. This year’s conference theme, “Public Law: Rights, Duties, and Power,” will initiate a conversation that spans across different countries, various perspectives, and brings together the legal community from around the globe.
Guest
- The Honourable Justice Sheilah L. Martin, Supreme Court of Canada
Born and raised in Montréal, Justice Sheilah L. Martin was trained in both civil law and common law before moving to Alberta where her career as an educator, lawyer, and judge has been driven by a commitment to fairness and equal justice for all.
Justice Martin earned a Bachelor of Civil Law and a Bachelor of Common Law from McGill University in 1981. She then received a Master of Laws from the University of Alberta in 1983 and a Doctorate of Juridical Science from the University of Toronto in 1991. She was called to the Alberta Bar in 1989.
Justice Martin worked as a researcher and law professor at the University of Calgary from 1982 to 1986. In the 1980s, she also taught in the common law and civil law exchange program organized by the federal Department of Justice, and was a visiting professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. From 1991 to 1996, she was Acting Dean and then Dean of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Law. Justice Martin taught courses ranging from commercial transactions and feminist legal theory to advanced constitutional law.
From 1996 to 2005, Justice Martin practiced criminal and constitutional litigation in Calgary. Her practice was wide-ranging and addressed issues of deep significance to Canadian society. She acted pro bono for the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund and the Alberta Association of Sexual Assault Centres in cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2000, she drew on her expertise in the area of compensation for the wrongfully convicted as an expert witness in the Thomas Sophonow Inquiry. At the invitation of National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Phil Fontaine, she joined the team tasked with finding a new approach to redress the harms caused by the forced attendance of Indigenous children at residential schools. Her work alongside many others contributed to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Justice Martin was appointed to the Court of Queen’s Bench for Alberta in 2005. In 2016, she was appointed to the Courts of Appeal of Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. She has also served as a Deputy Judge for the Supreme Court of Yukon since 2009. Justice Martin’s commitment to teaching and education has carried over into her career on the bench. She serves on the Canadian Judicial Council’s Education Committee and has worked with a variety of organizations on judicial education programming. She was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 18, 2017.
Host
- Vanessa MacDonnell, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law (Common Law Section), University of Ottawa; Co-Director, Public Law Centre, University of Ottawa
Vanessa MacDonnell is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law (Common Law Section) and Co-Director of the uOttawa Public Law Centre. She researches in the areas of Canadian constitutional law, constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law and criminal law. In 2019 she was selected for membership in the Global Young Academy.
Professor MacDonnell’s research examines the constitutional functions of the executive branch, inter-institutional relationships, unwritten constitutional norms and principles, and the relationship between Canada’s legal and political constitutions. She also writes about police powers and the jury.
In All Fairness is a Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice podcast channel welcoming representatives from the legal community and exploring how we can all contribute to improving the administration of justice in Canada. Legal professionals will benefit from informed discussions on key issues, essential knowledge and insights to strengthen their practice.
Visit the upcoming programs section of our website or the online library, or contact us if you want to learn more and expand your skills. Numerous programs are available, including customized training.
Questions and suggestions are always welcome. Please write to info@ciaj-icaj.ca