27 Jan 2008
This seems to have been a novel, if misguided attempt on the part of a trial judge to save the Georgia legal aid system some money, and move a somewhat slow moving criminal case to trial expeditiously.
20 Jan 2008
News that Bay Street law firm Borden Ladner Gervais, and partner George Hunter are being sued by Mr. Hunter’s former client over a “romantic/sexual” affair he had with her in 2003 raises, once again, the thorny ethical issue of whether lawyers should be allowed to maintain this type of relationship with a client. Mr. Hunter plead guilty to charges of professional misconduct in February 2007, and was suspended from practice for 60 days.
What makes this case interesting is that at the same time he carried on the affair over which he is now being sued, Mr. Hunter sat on a disciplinary panel for the Law Society of Upper Canada that also dealt with allegations of sexual involvement between another Ontario lawyer and that lawyer’s client. That lawyer was disbarred.
19 Jan 2008
In Canada and the United States, we expect news items like this from Jurist, to deal with other countries.
This particular editor hailed from Belarus – a nation not well known for its tradition of freedom and democracy.
We don’t, however, need to look that far.
16 Jan 2008
It appears that Canada’s Natural Resources Minister, Gary Lunn, has dismissed Linda J. Keen from her position as President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (“CNSC”).
As I indicated in a previous posting, although administrative tribunals in Canada enjoy only the degree of institutional independence that their enabling statute grants them, my analysis for the CNSC is that it is entitled to significant independence, considering that its enabling statute refers to it as “… a court of record”. Also significant is the fact that its work deals with serious public safety issues, and its membership is employs specialized knowledge.
That degree of institutional independence imposes on tribunal members an obligation to reject any attempt at influencing its decision making in particular cases before the Commission. Ms. Keen carried out that obligation well, and her efforts have now been rewarded with the loss of her presidency on the tribunal, although she remains a member.
This government’s handling of the affair undermines public confidence in the workings of administrative tribunals, and sends a troubling message not only to the members of other administrative tribunals, but to every party with proceedings pending before them. The potential damage to the administration of justice before these tribunals should not be underestimated.
