For Immediate Release
August 15, 2008
QUÉBEC CITY – Marie Pratte and Jean Pineau, authors of the book La Famille, have been named winners of the 2008 Walter Owen Book Prize in recognition of an outstanding new contribution to Canadian legal literature.
The authors received high praise for their comprehensive treatment of the juridical features and conditions of marriage, civil union and de facto marital relationships in La Famille.
“The breadth and depth of coverage of the subject in La Famille is remarkable,” said Prof. Daniel Jutras, chair of the jury for the 2008 Prize. “This is a fundamental treatise that is likely to be the benchmark for the exposition of family law in Quebec for years to come.”
Marie Pratte is a professor of law at the Université d’Ottawa whose research interests include family law, children’s law, and human rights. In addition to La Famille, Prof. Pratte is the author of numerous scholarly articles and book chapters, as well as technical reports to Canada’s Department of Justice. She received an LL.L. and an LL.M from l’Université d’Ottawa.
Retired law professor Jean Pineau has had a distinguished career, first at l’Université Laval, then at l’Université de Montréal. The author of numerous books and articles, including an important work on the general theory of obligations within the context of the Civil Code of Quebec, Pineau was one of four members of the committee tasked with reforming the Quebec Civil Code.
The jury for the Walter Owen Book Prize was particularly impressed that the authors addressed both fundamental issues of legal policy in the conception and reconception of family relationships, as well as concrete, practical aspects of the law of marriage, civil union, divorce, filiation, parental authority and obligations of support.
“The authors were unafraid to write in a compelling, even polemical manner in relation to the recent transformations of the law of marital relationships, and the consequences of scientific developments regarding assisted reproduction,” said Jutras.
The Walter Owen Book Prize, awarded by the Foundation for Legal Research, is designed to recognize excellent legal writing and to reward outstanding new contributions to Canadian legal literature that enhance the quality of legal research in this country. The award takes the form of a $10,000 cash prize funded by the Foundation for Legal Research.
The award will be presented at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday August 16, 2008, in the Québec City Convention Centre, room 2000A, as part of the 2008 Canadian Legal Conference. The event is open to accredited journalists who have registered with the CBA Media Centre.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to improvement in the law and the administration of justice. Some 37,000 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada are members.
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CONTACT: Hannah Bernstein, Canadian Bar Association, Aug. 15-19, Québec City Convention Centre, room 2103, Tel: 418-649-5218; E-mail: hannahb@cba.org.
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