Lundi 6 mai 2019 (Halifax, N.-É.) – Pour fêter son 25e anniversaire, le chapitre canadien de l’Association internationale des femmes juges (CCAIFJ) remet à deux de ces anciennes présidentes le prix d’excellence.
L’honorable Petra Newton, de la cour de justice de l’Ontario, était à Halifax la semaine dernière pour recevoir son prix, dans le cadre de la congrès national CCAIFJ de 2019. L’honorable Danielle Côté, de la cour du Québec, n’a pas pu assister car elle était hors du pays.« La CCAIFJ a pour mission de renforcer le travail des femmes juges à l’échelle nationale et internationale dans la recherche de l’égalité, de l’indépendance de la justice et de la primauté du droit », dit l’hon. Mona Lynch, juge à la cour suprême de la Nouvelle-Écosse et présidente du chapitre canadien de l’AIFJ. Les juges Newton et Côté ont consacré de nombreuses heures à des initiatives permettant aux femmes de participer de façon pleine et entière au système de justice.
« Au nom de tous nos membres, nous sommes très heureuses de rendre hommage à ces juristes distinguées. »
La juge Newton, qui a pris sa retraite à titre de juge le 1er mai 2019, était présidente du chapitre canadien de l’AIFJ de 2009 à 2011. La juge Côté a été présidente de 2011 à 2013.
la juge Newton
Avant d’être nommée juge en 1989, la juge Newton était procureure de la couronne au Manitoba et en Ontario, et avant cela, elle était avocate de la défense pénale et un avocat avec l’aide juridique.
Elle a participé à un grand nombre d’initiatives de formation juridique, notamment au sujet des femmes et des filles dans le système de justice, le maintien des femmes dans la profession juridique, le droit criminel et le droit autochtone.
Elle faisait aussi partie du conseil d’administration de l’Association internationale des femmes juges (AIFJ) et du Gale Moot.
À l’échelle internationale, le juge Newton était membre de la délégation canadienne aux conférences de l’AIFJ en Australie, au Panama, en Corée du Sud, en Angleterre et aux Etats Unis. En 2014, elle a été élue au conseil d’administration mondial de l’AIFJ représentant l’Amérique du Nord pour le mandat 2014-2016 et a été réélue en 2016 pour le mandat 2016-2018.
Admise au Barreau en 1978, la juge Danielle Côté est spécialisée en droit du travail et droit des sociétés. En 1983, elle a été nommée sous-procureure générale du droit pénal à Sherbrooke, Québec. De 1989 à 1994, elle a exercé les fonctions de procureur au ministère fédéral de la justice à Montréal.
Elle a été nommée juge à la Cour du Québec en ce qui concerne les matières civiles et pénales en novembre 1994. Elle a occupé le poste de juge présidente adjointe à la Chambre criminelle et pénal du 16 juin 2011 au 15 juin 2018.
A tous les deux ans, la CCAIFJ collabore avec l’institut nationale de la magistrature pour organiser un congrès pour leurs membres canadiens et canadiennes. Cette année, le congrès a eu lieu à Halifax, N.S. du 30 avril au 2 mai, intitule : La Cour moderne : s’adapter au jugement dans un âge complexe.
L’Association internationale des femmes juges (AIFJ) est une organisation non gouvernementale à but non lucratif dont les membres représentent tous les niveaux de l’appareil judiciaire dans le monde et partagent un engagement en faveur d’une justice égale pour les femmes et de la loi. Créé en 1991, l’AIFJ compte désormais plus de 6 000 membres dans 100 pays, dont le Canada, qui s’est joint à nous en 1994.
Pour plus d’informations sur la section canadienne, veuillez visiter https://iawjcc.com/.
Contact média:
Jennifer Stairs
902-221-5257
stairsjl@courts.ns.ca
Monday, May 6, 2019 (Halifax, NS) – To help mark its 25th anniversary this year, the Canadian Chapter of the International Association of Women Judges (CCIAWJ) is honouring two of its Past Presidents with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Hon. Petra Newton of the Ontario Court of Justice was in Halifax last week to receive her award, as part of the 2019 CCIAWJ national conference. The second recipient, The Hon. Danielle Côté of the Court of Quebec, was out of the country and unable to attend the ceremony.
“The mission of the CCIAWJ is to enhance the work of women judges nationally and internationally in pursuit of equality, judicial independence, and the rule of law,” said The Hon. Mona Lynch, a Justice on the Nova Scotia Supreme Court and the current President of the CCIAWJ. “Even before their involvement in the CCIAWJ, Justice Newton and Justice Côté devoted many hours to initiatives that enable women to participate meaningfully in the justice system.
“On behalf of all our members, we are very pleased to pay tribute to these deserving and distinguished jurists.”
Justice Newton, who retired from the Bench on May 1, 2019, was President of the CCIAWJ from 2009-11. Justice Côté served in the same role from 2011-13.
Justice Newton
Prior to being appointed a Judge in 1989, Justice Petra Newton worked asa Prosecutor with the Department of Justice in both Manitoba and Ontario, and before that as criminal defence counsel and Legal Aid duty counsel.
She has been a panelist at numerous continuing education and law school programs on a variety of issues, including women and girls in the justice system, retention of women in the legal profession, criminal advocacy and aboriginal justice. Among her most significant contributions has been to the Board of theInternational Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) and The Gale Moot.
Internationally, Justice Newton was a member of the Canadian Delegation at IAWJ Conferences in Australia, Panama, South Korea, London and Washington. In 2014 she was elected to the IAWJ World Board of Directors representing North America for the term 2014-16 and was re-elected in 2016 for the 2016-18 term.
Justice Danielle Côtéwas admitted to the Bar in 1978, specialising in labour law and corporate law. In 1983, she was appointed Deputy Attorney General to practise criminal law in Sherbrooke, Que. From 1989 to 1994, she was a criminal prosecution lawyer at the Federal Department of Justice in Montreal.
She was appointed a Judge of the Court of Quebec, for the Civil, Criminal and Penal Chambers in November 1994. She held the position of Deputy Chief Justice in the criminal and Penal Chamber from June 16, 2011, until June 15, 2018.
Every two years, the CCIAWJ works with the National Judicial Institute to organize a conference for Canadian judges somewhere in Canada. This year, the conference was held April 30 – May 2 in Halifax, N.S. The Modern Court: Adapting to Judging in a Complex Age, focused on issues like implicit bias, intercultural communication, public education and accessibility of the Courts in today’s changing media landscape.
The International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization whose members represent all levels of the judiciary worldwide and share a commitment to equal justice for women and the rule of law. Created in 1991, the IAWJ has grown to a membership of more than 6,000 in 100 countries, including Canada, which joined in 1994.
For more information on the Canadian Chapter, please visit https://iawjcc.com/.
Media Contact:
Jennifer Stairs
902-221-5257
stairsjl@courts.ns.ca
Biography of the Honourable Justice Tamarin Dunnet
by Justice Lois Hoegg Newfoundland and Labrador Court of Appeal
The CCIAWJ Communications Committee wishes to introduce Justice Tamarin Dunnet, the first recipient of the CCIAWJ Lifetime Achievement Award. Justice Dunnet was presented her award at the CCIAWJ’s June 2017 conference on Safety and Security of Women in Toronto.
Justice Dunnet was a star even as a student at Dalhousie University where she was President of the women’s residence Sheriff Hall and President of the University’s Panhellenic Council while receiving her post-secondary and legal education. Following her call to the Ontario bar, she practiced civil litigation at Thomson Rogers in Toronto, focusing on personal injury and medical malpractice law. Her leadership as an advocate earned her the Canadian Bar Association Dedicated Service Award and the Women’s Law Association of Ontario President’s Award, and as a judge she was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for her contribution to public life.
Justice Dunnet was appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in 1990. Since then she has been an active contributor to National Judicial Institute educational programs.
Over the past twenty years, Justice Dunnet has worked tirelessly through the IAWJ and the CCIAWJ to support women law students, especially women in developing countries and Indigenous women, and to train women judges around the world in the jurisprudence of equality, human rights and the rule of law. She has served on the CCIAWJ’s Board of Directors as Secretary and International Director, and has been involved in IAWJ programs such as “Women and Girls as Armed Combatants,” “Justice for Vulnerable Witnesses”, and “Challenges for Women Judges in the Middle East and North Africa”, and CCIAWJ programs including “Women and Girls in the Justice System” and “Judging Women: Aging, Mental Health and Culture”.
Justice Dunnet was elected IAWJ Regional Director for North America on the International Board of Directors in 2008. In 2010, she was elected to the Executive Council and served as Secretary/Treasurer and Vice-President, and in 2016, she was elected to the IAWJ Board of Managerial Trustees in Washington. She is the only Canadian member of the Board and serves on the Finance Committee. Her invitations to attend the United Nations 52nd Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, to speak at the American Bar Association’s International Law Section on “The Impact of Judges’ Gender and Race on Judicial Decision-Making”, to attend the Sir Richard May lectures on International Law and International Courts in The Hague in 2011, and in May 2017, to attend the Annual General Meeting of the International Legal Assistance Consortium, a worldwide consortium representing judges, prosecutors, lawyers and academics providing legal assistance to post-conflict countries indicate the international community’s respect for her work.
Justice Dunnet is married to the Honourable Justice Patrick Moore. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Justice Dunnet’s words of gratitude on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award aptly demonstrate her dedication to our organization, and her ability, warmth and wisdom:
I am truly honoured and deeply touched by this award. Chief Justice, I am humbled by your extremely kind words.
While the phrase “lifetime achievement” is very gratifying, it also has a slightly worrying pre-obituary tone. And I am not ready for that yet! As Robert Frost said, “I have miles to go before I sleep.”
Rather than a “lifetime achievement”, I consider my work with the IAWJ to be the opportunity of a lifetime.
This great honour would not have been possible without my wonderful colleagues in the Canadian Chapter who suggested to me in 2006 that I take on the role of International Director and who have continued to support me on the International Board and as International Secretary-Treasurer and Vice-President.
This incredible experience has allowed me to grow personally and professionally. I would encourage each one of you to consider offering your considerable judicial talent to the IAWJ and its commitment to educate and train women judges around the world in the jurisprudence of equality and human rights.
As I have discovered, this opportunity will provide you with new and exciting challenges and allow you to see the world through different eyes, different cultures and different judicial systems, many of which do not respect the rule of law.
In my interactions with some of these judges, I was reminded of the words of former United States’ Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, who was a huge inspiration to me and a great supporter of the IAWJ. She said,
The key to peace is the rule of law. The key to the rule of law is an impartial judiciary. And the key to an impartial judiciary is the participation of women.
I am so grateful for this honour and I look forward to continuing to contribute to the IAWJ through my work on the Board of Managerial Trustees. Thank you all for supporting me.
We are very proud of Justice Dunnet!
Notice biographique de l’honorable juge Tamarin Dunnet
Lois Hoegg, juge de la Cour d’appel de Terre-Neuve et Labrador
Le comité des communications du Chapitre canadien de l’Association internationale des femmes juges (CCIAWJ) souhaite présenter la juge Tamarin Dunnet, première récipiendaire du prix pour l’œuvre d’une vie du CCIAWJ, distinction qui lui a été décernée en juin 2017 à la conférence sur la sécurité des femmes qui s’est tenue à Toronto.
La juge Dunnet était déjà une vedette lorsqu’elle étudiait le droit à l’Université Dalhousie, où elle a été présidente de la résidence des femmes Sheriff Hall et du conseil panhellénique de l’université. Après avoir été admise au Barreau de l’Ontario, elle a exercé dans le domaine des affaires civiles chez Thomson Rogers, à Toronto, où elle s’occupait surtout de litige en matière de lésions corporelles et de fautes médicales. Son esprit d’initiative en tant qu’avocate lui a valu le prix pour services distingués de l’Association du Barreau canadien et le prix de la présidente de la Women’s Law Association of Ontario. En tant que juge, elle a reçu la médaille du jubilé d’or de la Reine Elizabeth II pour sa contribution à la vie publique.
Madame Dunnet a été nommée juge de la Cour supérieure de justice de l’Ontario en 1990. Depuis, elle prend une part active aux programmes de formation de l’Institut national de la magistrature.
Au cours des vingt dernières années, par l’intermédiaire de l’Association internationale des femmes juges (IAWJ), la juge Dunnet a œuvré sans relâche en faveur des étudiantes en droit, en particulier celles des pays en voie de développement et les étudiantes autochtones, et en faveur de la formation des femmes juges du monde entier en matière de droit à l’égalité, de droit de la personne et de la primauté du droit. Elle a été secrétaire et directrice internationale au conseil d’administration du CCIAWJ et a pris part à divers programmes de l’IAWJ, dont ceux qui portent sur « les femmes et les filles combattantes armées », « la justice pour les témoins vulnérables » et « les difficultés auxquelles se butent les femmes juges du Moyen-Orient et de l’Afrique du Nord ». Elle a aussi contribué à des programmes du CCIAWJ, dont ceux qui portent sur « les femmes et les filles dans le système judiciaire » et « les jugements visant les femmes : vieillissement, santé mentale et culture ».
En 2008, la juge Dunnet a été élue directrice régionale de l’IAWJ pour l’Amérique du Nord au conseil d’administration international. En 2010, elle a été élue au conseil exécutif, dont elle a été secrétaire-trésorière et vice-présidente. En 2016, elle a été élue membre du Board of Managerial Trustees de l’IAWJ à Washington. Elle en est le seul membre canadien et elle fait partie du comité des finances. Le fait que la juge Dunnet ait été invitée à assister à la 52e séance de la Commission de la condition de la femme des Nations Unies, à prendre la parole devant la section du droit international de l’American Bar Association sur « l’impact du sexe et de l’ethnie des juges sur leurs décisions », à assister aux conférences de Sir Richard May sur le droit international et les tribunaux internationaux à La Haye en 2011 et, en mai 2017, à prendre part à l’assemblée générale annuelle de l’International Legal Assistance Consortium, un groupement mondial représentant des juges, des procureurs, des avocats et des universitaires offrant de l’assistance juridique à des pays dans l’après-conflit, témoigne du respect de la communauté internationale envers son travail.
La juge Dunnet est mariée au juge Patrick Moore. Ils ont trois enfants et quatre petits-enfants.
La reconnaissance qu’elle a exprimée en ces mots en recevant le prix pour l’œuvre d’une vie démontre avec justesse son dévouement envers notre organisation, ainsi que son talent, sa chaleur humaine et sa sagesse :
« C’est vraiment un honneur pour moi de recevoir ce prix. J’en suis profondément émue. Madame la Juge en chef, c’est avec humilité que j’accueille vos paroles extrêmement aimables.
L’expression “œuvre d’une vie” est certes très gratifiante, mais elle a également un léger ton prénécrologique inquiétant. Et je ne suis pas encore prête pour une nécrologie ! Comme Robert Frost l’a dit : “J’ai du chemin à parcourir avant de m’endormir.”
Je considère mon œuvre au sein de l’IAWJ comme la chance d’une vie plutôt que l’œuvre d’une vie.
Ce grand honneur ne m’aurait pas été fait, n’eussent été mes merveilleuses collègues du chapitre canadien de l’organisation, qui m’ont suggéré en 2006 d’assumer les fonctions de directrice internationale et qui n’ont cessé de me soutenir au conseil d’administration international et dans mes fonctions de secrétaire-trésorière et vice-présidente internationale.
Cette expérience incroyable m’a permis de m’épanouir sur les plans personnel et professionnel. J’encourage chacun de vous à envisager de mettre votre immense talent de magistrat au service de l’IAWJ et de son attachement à éduquer et à former les femmes juges du monde entier à la jurisprudence de l’égalité et des droits de la personne.
J’ai découvert que cette chance vous donnera des défis nouveaux et palpitants et vous permettra de voir le monde d’un regard différent, à travers des cultures et des systèmes judiciaires différents, dont beaucoup ne respectent pas la primauté du droit.
Dans mes échanges avec certaines juges, je me suis souvenue de ce qu’a dit l’ancienne juge de la Cour suprême des États-Unis Sandra Day O’Connor, qui a été pour moi une grande source d’inspiration et une grande partisane de l’IAWJ. Voici ce qu’elle a dit :
“Le secret de la paix est la primauté du droit. Le secret de la primauté du droit est l’impartialité des magistrats. Et le secret de l’impartialité des magistrats est la participation des femmes.”
Je suis très reconnaissante pour cet honneur et je me réjouis à la perspective d’apporter encore quelque chose à l’IAWJ grâce à mon travail au sein du Board of Managerial Trustees. Merci à vous toutes de votre appui. »
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – June 3, 2014 – Madam Justice Donna Wilson, Justice of Her Majesty’s Court of Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan, stopped by the Native Law Centre to drop off a generous $3000.00 cheque from the Canadian Chapter, International Association of Women Judges (CCIAWJ). The funding will support the CCIAWJ’s priorities within the Program of Legal Studies for Native People (PLSNP).
As CCIAWJ Past President Justice Louise Charbonneau explains, the CCIAWJ’s objectives are, “among others, to implement and encourage strategies to achieve gender equality in the justice system; to assist women to participate meaningfully in the justice system in Canada; to promote the appointment of women judges at all levels of court.” Currently, despite many gains, women remain underrepresented in the judiciary, and there is even less representation of Aboriginal women in the judiciary. “For that to change,” says Justice Charbonneau, “more Native women need to become engaged in the practice of law.”
In pursuit of the goal to support more Aboriginal women in law, the CCIAWJ has entered into a partnership with the PLSNP to provide $3000.00 per year for five years. The donation is used for a variety of the PLSNP’s needs, from supporting an Aboriginal woman who wishes to attend the PLSNP but cannot afford the associated costs, to providing enriching educational experiences such as female Aboriginal guest speakers. The CCIAWJ’s donation reflects the members’ commitment to supporting Aboriginal women pursuing law in any way that is required.
Justice Wilson sees that the CCIAWJ’s support of Aboriginal women results in positive changes in the legal profession. “First Nations women lawyers are making significant contributions in all areas of law. There are First Nations lawyers practicing family law, dealing with child welfare issues, representing accused in criminal matters, and performing corporate services for First Nations’ organizations.” Justice Wilson refers to the women lawyers as “role models for the First Nations women going to law school at the University of Saskatchewan and … role models for First Nations women as they enter the workforce.”
The PLSNP is an eight-week national summer program that prepares Aboriginal students for law school. Aboriginal students from across Canada arrive in Saskatoon to study Property Law and learn legal reading, legal writing, and legal analysis skills. In the process, they develop friendships, which create a strong network of Aboriginal legal professionals who support each other in their careers. Given that Aboriginal people are underrepresented in the legal community, the strength of the network contributes to robust cooperation and communication between Aboriginal people in the legal profession.
On May 20, the PLSNP welcomed the 42nd cohort of students. The incoming students join more than 1000 PLSNP graduates, many of whom have become lawyers, judges, government officials, and leaders in policy development, research, and education.
For more information, please contact
Tanya Andrusieczko, Communications Coordinator, Program of Legal Studies for Native People.
Tel.: (306) 966-6197
Email: tanya.andrusieczko@usask.ca
Have women judges really made a difference? This question echoed the title of Justice Bertha Wilson’s famous speech at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1990, and was posed to the panellists at the International Women’s Day Forum held Monday March 2 at the Law Society.
Co-hosted by the Law Society, the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, the Feminist Legal Analysis Section of the Ontario Bar Association, the Women’s Law Association of Ontario and the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, the panel was chaired by the Hon. Justice Geraldine Sparrow, and featured Professor Jamie Cameron from Osgoode Hall Law School, Mary Anne Eberts, Barrister & Solicitor, Sonia Lawrence, Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Hon. Justice Micheline Rawlins.
Justice Wilson argued that the law has no gender, said Professor Cameron, who painted a sensitive picture of the judge who was the first woman to be appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. A modest and unassuming woman, she never thought of herself as a feminist, but she was appointed to the bench at the same time the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted and women’s rights cases were moving through the courts.
Two of Justice Wilson’s important decisions included the Morgentaler case, which decriminalized abortion, and R v Lavallee, which allowed the defence of battered wife syndrome in a murder trial.
Do women judges make a difference? The question is a relevant one, as women now represent 32 per cent of the bench in the Ontario Court of Justice and the federal courts. The hypothesis that women make judgments contextually with consideration of the effect on people, while men are more abstract in making their judgments, was largely dismissed. Indeed, Justice Sparrow cited Justice Sandra Day O’Connor as rejecting the notion that women on the bench are more sensitive as a Victorian view of how women’s personalities operate.
Mary Anne Eberts reminded the audience that Canadian women were enfranchised in the 1920s, except Quebec, which was not until the 1940s. She stated that if women were not judges, “they would forever be subalterns of the profession,” and true equality depends on women having access to the bench. Women judges have been involved in seminal decisions that have affected women, including Morgentaler, Lavallee and Daigle, and in each instance, brought their experience to the decision-making process.
A recent study by Stribopoulos and Yhaha found some statistical evidence that in criminal cases involving sexual or domestic violence, as well as in family cases involving custody and support disputes, judges of each sex tend to favour their own gender.
However, they also found that in mixed panels, these effects are moderated, supporting the value of gender diversity on the bench. Sonia Lawrence extrapolated from this to support the view that greater diversity on the bench in terms of race and gender will better serve the public while at the same time increasing the confidence of the public in the justice system.
Justice Rawlins, the first Black woman appointed to the bench, wrapped up the afternoon program with personal observations of her experience. She encouraged women lawyers to apply to be judges, and said that judges must bring their personal perspectives to the bench without fear of being called less than impartial, and that the definition of perspective does not necessarily equate to male privilege.
At the reception following the event, Justice MacLeod Beliveau reiterated this sentiment, saying that greater diversity on the bench means that different life experiences are brought to the decisions that are made. “We are not a homogeneous society and we need to have increased sensitivity to the diverse experiences of those before the courts,” she said.
Women Benchers appointed to the Bench
In 1897, the Law Society of Upper Canada became the first body to permit women to practise law. In 1943, a Canadian woman, Justice Kinnear, became the first woman judge in the British Commonwealth.
Thirteen women benchers have been appointed to the bench, and their success was celebrated on International Women’s Day. They are (with the years they served as Law Societybenchers):
The CCIAWJ Communications Committee wishes to introduce Justice Tamarin Dunnet, the first recipient of the CCIAWJ Lifetime Achievement Award. Justice Dunnet was presented her award at the CCIAWJ’s June 2017 conference on Safety and Security of Women in Toronto.