Law Week commemorates the anniversary of the proclamation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is a special celebration of Canada’s justice system sponsored by the CBA, BC Branch, and co-funded by the Law Foundation, the Law Society, and the Vancouver Bar Association.

This year several local Bar Associations joined in Law Week celebrations. Congratulations to Law Week participants in, among other communities: Cranbrook, who concentrated on schools; Duncan and Vernon who featured mock trials, displays and tours; Fort St. John, who staged “Twelve Angry Persons” for the schools and the public, to raise money for a cultural centre and a Literacy Society; Nelson, whose Law 12 classes staged mock trials; and Kelowna whose police forces arrested and tried 60 Girl Guides.

“Law Week activities are designed to break down the barriers and to show people that the system and the people who work within it—the judges, lawyers, police officers, sheriffs, and others—are here to serve them,” said Wesley Shields, Chair of the committee organizing Kelowna’s Law Week activities.

The BC Branch coordinated Law Week contests for children/schools around the Province. Such contests included an essay, poster, and a public speaking competition. The winners were: ESSAY CONTEST--Jennifer Miller (Abbotsford), Shauna Robertson (Surrey), Vivian Leung (Vancouver). POSTER CONTEST--Marina Anderson (Kelowna), Laura and Emily Braam (Terrace), Danielle Brissard (Fraser Lake), Krista Mattioli (Kamloops). PUBLIC SPEAKING--Emily Ma (Vancouver), Daphna Gelbart (Vancouver), Jacob McEwan (Nelson), Shauna Robertson (Surrey)
Each year Law Week sponsors a Student Mentor Program, organized by Michael B. Hicks, Law Week Committee Member. This year the Student Mentor Program received its best response to date from schools. The program matched 70 lawyers with 70 students—the students spent half a day in a law office. In turn, lawyers went into high schools to discuss legal work with classes.

Part of Law Week took place on the telephone. On April 18, volunteer lawyers commandeered BC Branch staff desks and telephones to field 423 calls—up by 50 per cent over last year. Lisa Dewar, one of the Dial-A-Lawyer volunteers said, “I was happy to know so many people were calling in. The lines were plugged.” It was John McGreevy’s third year as a telephone legal volunteer, “I think Law Week is a great concept for the profession. It allows the public an opportunity to see lawyers giving freely of the time.”

A special thank you is extended to the Law Week Committee: Ian Guthrie, Chair, Clare Barry, Brenda Brown, Alison Carvalho, Ansar Cheung, Michael Hicks, Barbara Lohmann, Mandy Sandhu and Stephen Wright.

Thank you Dial-A-Lawyer Volunteers: Gary W. D. Abrams, C. Edward Barnes, Kathryn Lynn Basran, James Andrew Berringer, Keith A. Cameron, Merle Evelyn Campbell, Derrick Alexander Daniels, Lisa Mae Dewar, Helmut Del Feller, Deanne Gaffar, David Griffiths, Xiao-Yu Gu, Joanna L. Y. Ho, Helena Hong-Ki Shum, Elizabeth Anne Kelley, Peter Lingham Lazier, Victor Peter Leginsky, John David McGreevy, Lawrence D. Myers, Alastair Rees-Thomas, Bonnie On Yee Teng, Wallace M. Wong, and Stuart Jay Zukerman. Thanks to the reception volunteers: Pauline Chan, Belinder Kwong, Margaret Lau, Susie O’Reilly, Sherry Northcott, Rachel Toddington, and Clare Day.

This article was published in the June 1998 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2006, all rights reserved.