New
Call for Nominations
The National Criminal Justice Section is seeking nominations for a Secretary and up to ten Executive Members for a two year term September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2015.
For further details, please see the full Call for Nominations.
June 15, 2013
Vancouver, BC
Conference Co-Chairs:
Suhail Akhtar, Scarborough Crown Attorney's Office
Eric Gottardi, Peck and Company
Prosecuting or defending a case of homicide presents one of the biggest challenges for both the defence and Crown counsel. How do you best approach a murder bail hearing? What questions do you ask at a preliminary inquiry? What pre-trial motions do you bring? What are the evidentiary issues that you should be looking out for? And what happens when you end up with a sticky ethical problem?
From bail hearings to preliminary inquiries, pre-trial motions to closing submissions, hear senior criminal practitioners and members of the judiciary give their thoughts, tips and advice on how to strategize when handling all of these critical issues most of which apply to all types of serious cases.
Join us for one of the most educational sessions of the year! Registration is now open.
National Sections: Children’s Law Committee
National Sections recently established a Children’s Law Committee to coordinate activities, provide advice, and respond to law, policy, and legal research developments on matters affecting Canadian children. More information is available on the new Children’s Law Committee webpage.
Join the Children’s Law Committee listserv!
Interested CBA members are strongly encouraged to join the Children’s Law Committee listserv. This is an ideal way to stay informed of Committee activities and get directly involved. The listserv also provides a forum to network and exchange ideas with leading practitioners who share your interests.
Membership is free to CBA members.
Join the listserv (CBA membership number required)
National Sections Council Award of Excellence - 2012 Winner!
The National Sections Council Award of Excellence celebrates the outstanding contribution of a National Section in providing service to members and furthering the objectives of the CBA. The 2012 award was presented to the National Criminal Justice Section at the CBA Canadian Legal Conference in Vancouver.
Criminal Justice Chair Daniel MacRury, Q.C. and Vice-Chair Eric Gottardi receives the National Sections Council (NSC)Award of Excellence from Malcolm Boyle, NSC Chair, at the Vancouver CLC in August 2012.
Criminal Justice is one of the CBA’s busiest National Sections. When Bill C-10, the Criminal Omnibus Bill, was tabled last fall, the Section went into overdrive. The Section made two presentations to the House of Commons and one to the Senate to express the CBA’s very strong concerns about this legislation. The Globe and the National Post highlighted the CBA’s deep reservations about some measures in the omnibus package and through social media, significant public interest and discussion was generated.
Tom Irvine, Chair of the CBA Legislation and Law Reform Committee, noted that in addition to the Section’s high quality and quantity of work specific to criminal law, the Section has “a unique approach that brings Crown and defence lawyers together to agree on and advocate for basic principles of criminal law and sentencing.
The Section has built a network of volunteers to participate on its law reform committee. Through their work the CBA is recognized as the voice of Canadian lawyers on matters of criminal law and justice.
As part of the federal delegation the Section sends two representatives to the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC), to consider proposals to amend criminal laws. Resolutions on Justice in Sentencing adopted by CBA Council and the ULCC provided the impetus for a new project that will involve research on a “safety valve” to avoid the application of mandatory minimum sentences in certain circumstances.
The Section also represents the CBA at the International Criminal Bar, National Associations Active in Criminal Justice and at a Federal/Provincial/Territorial Steering Committee on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.
Daniel A. MacRury, Q.C., of Sydney receives 2012 CBA Louis St-Laurent Award of Excellence
Daniel A. MacRury, Q.C., Chief Crown Attorney for the Cape Breton Region of the Nova Scotia Public Prosecution Service, is the recipient of the 2012 Canadian Bar Association (CBA) Louis St-Laurent Award of Excellence for distinguished service to the Association.
Read the release.
CBA action on the Omnibus Crime Bill (C-10)
The CBA via the Criminal Justice Section presented a 100-page CBA submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human rights on October 18 and again on November 3.
For ease of references, a 10-point summary of the submission has been developed.
To add your voice to the CBA position, we would encourage you to bring the summary and full submission to the attention of your Member of Parliament or any interested groups.
Advocacy
Newsletter
Join the National Criminal Justice Section Listserv
The National Criminal Justice Section has a listserv which you are encouraged to join.
A listserv is a discussion group that comes to you through your e-mail! Listservs, or e-mail lists, allow you to interact with many people simultaneously and are a convenient way for members to share information, pass on client referrals, and to ask or answer questions.
Section members can join the listserv online at: http://www.cba.org/CBA_listservsEnrolment/Enrolment.aspx.
** In order to join a listserv you must be a member of the relevant CBA Section. Please contact your Branch if you wish to join the National Criminal Justice Section.**
Participants in CBA listservs are expected to conduct themselves in a courteous, civil and respectful manner, consistent with the CBA Code of Professional Conduct. To ensure this level of professionalism is maintained, the Code of Conduct for CBA Discussion Groups and Listservs was developed.
Invitation to Participate in Law Reform Activities
One of the primary activities of the Canadian Bar Association’s National Criminal Justice Section (the Section) is to analyze proposed amendments to federal legislation, mainly the Criminal Code. The Section frequently makes representations to government officials and Parliamentary Committees, for example, with the goal of improving the law and the administration of justice.
The Section’s work load on this front continues to be significant, and any member with an interest in law reform is encouraged to get involved.
Please note, it is particularly important for law makers that the Section’s comments are based on the perspective of both Crown and defence lawyers.
Please contact:
Gaylene Schellenberg
Lawyer, Legislation and Law Reform
CBA National Office
1 800 267 8860 ext 139
Recent Submissions
More CBA submissions
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