The Lawyers Weekly - August 5, 2011

Justice Charron retires from SCC

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CRISTIN SCHMITZ OTTAWA Justice Louise Charron’s retire- ment at the end of this month will deprive the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) of the judge who led the way on the single largest part of its workload.

Some lawyers might be surprised to learn that the modest 60-year-old judge is the court’s unrivalled leader in criminal law—which comprised 34 per cent of the appeals heard by the judges last year.

But the numbers tell the tale. The former law professor and bilingual ex-Crown attorney has written more of the court’s governing criminal law jurisprudence —by far—than any other judge during her nearly seven years on the court, reveals a Lawyers Weekly analysis of her written output.

From Aug. 30, 2004 up to press time on July 28, Justice Charron wrote 44 majority or unanimous criminal law judgments—nearly one quarter of the court’s governing criminal jurisprudence in those seven years.

This eclipses the court’s other
criminal law expert —Justice Mor-
ris Fish—who wrote 33 judg-
ments for the court during that
time, but who often found himself
in dissent (see the chart on p. 26
for the criminal law track record of
all the judges).
Justice Charron has written
mostly unanimous and majority
judgments.

Our analysis discloses that she has been the voice of the court in nearly 80 per cent (54 of the total

68) of the criminal and civil judgments she has written as of July 28 (for details, see the chart on p. 27).

That is an enviable track record
for an SCC judge, capping a
23-year judicial career in which
she also penned some ground-
breaking decisions as a trial judge
(for example, R. v. Olscamp,
[1994] O.J. No. 2926, which
rejected bogus “expert” psycho-
logical evidence in child sex abuse
cases) and at the Ontario Court of
Appeal (for example, M. v. H.,
[1996] O.J. No. 4419, which
struck down the opposite-sex
requirement for spousal support).

“I would say that in criminal law she was definitely a leader at the Supreme Court,” Queen’s University law professor Don Stuart told The Lawyers Weekly.

“Justice Charron brought a great deal of expertise in the criminal justice system to the court.

She was also extremely hardwork-
ing, very conscientious, a clear
writer and she wrote a lot of now-
leading judgments for the court,”
he said.
“She is going to leave a gaping
hole in the court,” echoed Univer-
sity of Ottawa law professor David
Paciocco, who has been friends
with Justice Charron since she
taught at the law school. “Both she
and [Justice Ian] Binnie are very
strong in the criminal law and evi-
dence area, and this is an urgent
need that the court must have
filled,” Paciocco urged.
Members of the criminal
defence Bar give Justice Charron
credit for her intellectual rigour
Departure of unrivalled
leader on criminal law
leaves ‘gaping hole’

Justice Charron looks forward to life after the Supreme Court of Canada when she retires at the end of the month.

ROY GROGAN FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

See Charron Page 26

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

Vol. 22, No. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION December 6, 2002

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002

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JEREMY HAINSWORTH VANCOUVER

The Law Society of B.C. (LSBC) has been fined almost $100,000 after the province’s Human Rights Tribunal (HRT) found it discriminated against a lawyer on mental illness grounds.

The July 15 remedy decision
includes a financial award for
damages to Peter Mokua Gichuru
for wage losses, injury to dignity
and feelings, and expenses.

“Decisions of the law society can have a significant and wide-ranging impact on any lawyer. Clearly, there was a significant power imbalance at play,” HRT member Tonie Beharrell ruled.

LSBC president Gavin Hume said
the society accepts the ruling and
won’t appeal. The award stems
from an Oct. 30, 2009 decision
where Beharrell ruled “the sys-
temic aspect of the complaint has
been apparent throughout.”
The issue revolves around an
application for enrolment in tem-
porary articles Gichuru was
required to complete in 1998 as a
University of Victoria student
seeking articles. Among the ques-
tions was, “Have you ever been
treated for schizophrenia, para-
noia, or a mood disorder described
as a major affective illness, bipolar
mood disorder, or manic depres-
sive illness?”
Hume said after the 2009
decision, the society made chan-
ges to comply with B.C.’s Human
Rights Code. It also consulted

Tribunal fines BC law society for discrimination

See Discrimination Page 27

THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002

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