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Training that never stops

For the sake of transparency, since 2018, the Council annually publishes a list of courses and seminars available during the previous fiscal year. The following is a list of courses, seminars and other learning activities attended by federally appointed judges to continue their learning and enhance their knowledge.

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Programs (87)
  • May 24 2023 - May 26 2023

    Supreme Court of British Columbia Education Seminar

    The Supreme Court of British Columbia’s Education Seminar covered wide-ranging areas of interests for the judges and masters of the court. The program explored difficult financial calculations in the context of family matters, including business valuations and corporate guideline income. Other sessions focused on the admissibility and treatment of surreptitious recordings, chambers practice, and various pre-trial matters. There was discussion with senior members of the bench on a variety of criminal matters, from complex trials to innovative approaches to sentencing. For the latter, presentations were also offered by a judge of the Provincial Court and a justice of the Manitoba Court of King’s Bench, and from the First Nations Justice Council and Aboriginal Legal Services. Finally, the seminar included a judicial wellness component providing judges with tools to aid in understanding and building resilience, especially when dealing with difficult family and criminal matters.

    View more - Supreme Court of British Columbia Education Seminar
  • May 18 2023 - May 19 2023

    Supreme Courts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Education Seminar

    The seminar began by exploring the phenomenon of intergenerational trauma from the standpoints of neuroscience, the experiences of Black and Indigenous Nova Scotian communities, and that of two judges. Two concurrent sessions then dealt respectively with techniques for distinguishing credible science from junk science, and with natural justice and proportionality issues. A further panel provided guidance on how to effectively conduct credibility assessments and draw inferences in criminal, family, and civil proceedings. The program continued with a presentation on judgement writing, focusing specifically on the issue-driven format and point-first writing. Concurrent sessions followed on private international law, private records in sexual assault cases, and a review of the year’s family law jurisprudence. The seminar ended with a plenary session which explored resilience and improving judicial responses to stress-laden work environment.

    View more - Supreme Courts of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island Education Seminar
  • May 3 2023 - May 5 2023

    Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) Spring Education Seminar

    Using lecture presentations, panel discussions and interactive elements, this three-day in person program considered issues related to judgment writing and reserves, historical sexual assault, and French language rights in Ontario, and provided case law updates in all areas of the court’s responsibility. It also explored communication in the courtroom, the Hague Convention, insurance issues and homicide trials.

    View more - Superior Court of Justice (Ontario) Spring Education Seminar
  • April 16 2023 - March 21 2024

    Seminar for New Federally Appointed Judges: Joint CIAJ and NJI Spring and Fall Programs (Common Law and Civil Law)

    The seminars were led by experienced judges, with the assistance of seasoned lawyers and academics. Several learning methods—including lectures, courtroom role-playing videos, and small group discussions—were used to impart the knowledge and develop the skills judges need to perform their new duties effectively. Some of the sessions were designed for all judges, while others were specifically for common law or civil law judges, or for judges sitting on the Federal Court or Federal Court of Appeal. All participants jointly attended sessions on judicial independence, conduct and ethics, judgment writing, civility and effective communication in the courtroom, unconscious bias, strategies to ensure equal access to justice for persons with disabilities, and the relationship between the judge’s role and the social context, with particular emphasis on sexual assault law, racial discrimination, and cases involving Indigenous people. Judges from all jurisdictions also participated in sessions on family law, injunctive relief, oral judgments, judicial review of administrative actions, evidence law, civil procedure, self-represented litigants, courtroom management and case management. A series of sessions for common law judges focused on criminal law topics, from jury selection to sentencing to specific issues in sexual assault trials. Civil law judges, meanwhile, worked on issues of statutory criminal law, applications for care, and the practical aspects of being a judge. Finally, Federal Court judges attended separate sessions on the scope of the Federal Court’s jurisdiction, citizenship, immigration and refugee law, Indigenous law, and intellectual property.

    View more - Seminar for New Federally Appointed Judges: Joint CIAJ and NJI Spring and Fall Programs (Common Law and Civil Law)
  • April 13 2023 - April 14 2023

    Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba Education Seminar

    This seminar was presented by an experienced faculty of judges, legal academics, and professionals working inside and outside of the legal system. Participants were provided with concrete tools and advice to promote efficient judgment writing and the ability to deliver oral judgments. They explored ways in which judges and courts can better interact with different categories of difficult or abusive litigants. Judges discussed best practices to prepare, manage, and remain resilient when presiding over high-profile trials. A session for General Division judges focused on writing reasons in sexual assault cases and discussed: the impermissible use of common-sense reasoning in assessing credibility; stereotypical reasoning in relation to cross-cultural interpretations of human behaviour; and errors applying W.D. Meanwhile, a session for Family Division judges provided practical approaches to the use parental capacity assessments and culturally based parenting practices. The final session focused on the importance of and need for reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

    View more - Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba Education Seminar
  • January 25 2023 - January 27 2023

    Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Education Seminar

    This program was led by experienced judges, legal academics, and practitioners. Through a mix of lectures, panel discussions and interactive activities, the program explored: third party records in sexual assault cases; intimate partner violence; firearms and illegal drugs; the role of children’s services in parenting disputes; interjurisdictional issues in family law; and cryptocurrency.

    View more - Court of King’s Bench of Alberta Education Seminar
  • January 16 2023 - January 20 2023

    Judging in Your First Five Years: Criminal Law (Federally Appointed Judges)

    The program was led by a multi-disciplinary faculty of experienced judges, practitioners, and academics and was addressed to judges having between one and five years of experience. Participants engaged in a mix of presentations and breakout exercises based on a sexual assault fact scenario from pre-trial through to sentencing, with emphasis placed on the skills of trial management. Throughout the seminar, participants also learned about myths and stereotypes in sexual assault cases, the statistical realities and social dynamics of intimate partner violence, testimonial accommodations for vulnerable witnesses, and the experiences of Indigenous women and girls in the criminal justice system.

    View more - Judging in Your First Five Years: Criminal Law (Federally Appointed Judges)