For Immediate Release
August 11, 2006
ST. JOHN’S, NFLD. – University of Ottawa Prof. Constance Backhouse has been awarded the 2006 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law for her outstanding contribution to legal scholarship in Canada.
“Professor Backhouse is an exemplary scholar whose research and writing has enriched Canadian legal history,” said CBA President Brian A. Tabor, Q.C. “Her writings illustrate how systemic inequality can be embedded in processes and decision-making. Her work is entertaining, original, and highly creative, and the result is better understanding of our Canadian legal heritage.”
Prof. Backhouse is a highly-regarded teacher, writer, and human rights advocate. She has over 50 publications to her credit, including six books. Her works document many events and practices which were flagrant violations of human rights, and, in particular, past neglect of gender equality in the Canadian legal system.
She has taught at four Canadian universities and colleges, and served as director of the University of Ottawa’s Human Rights Centre form 2001 to 2003. She is currently a professor at the U of O’s Faculty of Law in the common law division. Prof. Backhouse’s work has garnered a number of awards, including a Trudeau Fellowship, a Jules and Gabrielle Léger Fellowship, and the U of O Award for Excellence in Research, among others.
Prof. Backhouse received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba in 1972, her LL.B. from Osgoode Law School in 1975, her LL.M from Harvard in 1979, and an honourary doctorate in law from the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2002. She was called to the bar in 1978.
Established in 1993 by then-Governor-General Ramon John Hnatyshyn, the Hnatyshyn Award for Law recognizes outstanding contribution to the law or legal scholarship in Canada.
The 2006 Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Law will be presented at 12:30 p.m. NDT on Saturday, Aug. 12, 2006, in Salon B/C/D at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and Convention Center, St. John’s, Nfld., as part of the 2006 Canadian Legal Conference.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 36,000 lawyers, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Aug. 11-15, Delta St. John’s Hotel and Convention Centre, St. Mary’s Room, (709) 726-7594; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
