Why undue influence is
a perilous presumption
PAGE 9
CHRISTOPHER GULY
Nearly half of Ontario’s pri-
vate practice lawyers provide
some level of free legal services,
while the median age of private
practice lawyers is nearly a dec-
ade older than the province’s
overall population, according to a
report released last week.

The Geography of Civil Legal Services in Ontario found that 46.7 per cent of lawyers did some pro bono work in 2009, when Ontario’s 20,203 lawyers in the private bar were surveyed.

According to the study, the
Haliburton region has the high-
est proportion of lawyers (80
per cent) who provide pro bono
services. By contrast, Toronto,
which has 54 per cent of
Ontario’s lawyers in private
practice, reported having just
42 per cent of them doing any
free legal work.

“That means there’s a good basis to focus on more pro bono activity in the city to bring it up to the provincial median,” said Osgoode Hall Law School dean Lorne Sossin, a past vice-chairman of Pro Bono Law Ontario and a member of the Ontario Civil Legal

Urging nation to ‘protect’ court See Pro bono Page 27THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

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

considered to replace Moreno-

CRISTIN SCHMITZ

Ocampo, who departs next July.

The chief prosecutor said he remains “very grateful each day” for the “incredible” job, which has seen him launch prosecutions and/or investigations in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Ivory Coast, and—controversially, at the behest of the United Nations Security Council— Sudan and Libya.

PROCUREMENT

Canada should take on the “critical role” of protecting the International Criminal Court from state attacks on its “judicial integrity” and independence, says Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the ICC’s hard-nosed Argentinean chief prosecutor.

Doubt lingers for
aggrieved bidders
THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

UNPREPARED

“Protect the court because there will be attempts to affect the integrity of the court,” warns Moreno-Ocampo, who became the ICC’s first chief prosecutor in 2003, after winning a strong reputation in his homeland for prosecuting senior Argentinean military commanders involved in mass killings.

Grads lack key skills
in the real world

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

The 59-year-old criminal lawyer did not specify which countries might want to interfere with the independence of The Hague based court.

“I’m Argentinean—I’m trained
in chaos and crisis so the job was
perfect for me,” Moreno-Ocampo
said, smiling. “The states are giving
me a role —for me the best role in
the world. I had to work for victims
of massive atrocities, I had to help
the world to go together against
[those] crimes, so I see nothing
[else] better to do.”
But he did say that he antici-
pates that as the ICC’s power and
legitimacy grows— and as its pros-
ecutors dig more often into allega-
tions of genocide, war crimes and
crimes against humanity around
the globe—so, too, will individual
nations try to exert more control
over the tribunal.

After nearly 10 years of existence, the court has not handed down any verdicts so getting the first convictions remains the greatest immediate challenge for the prosecutor’s office, he said.

“The single greatest challenge in the long term is that the state parties [to the Statute of Rome], and the international organizations, understand more what the court is doing, and then try to take advantage of the rule of law system, and not try to interfere with the rule of law system,” Moreno-Ocampo said. “That, I think, is the biggest challenge, not just for the prosecutor’s office, but for the international law community.”

When asking for a raise,
do your homework
ROY GROGAN FOR THE LAWYERS WEEKLY
THE LAWYERS WEEKLY

“Normally, states try to manipulate international organizations, that’s what they do,” Moreno-Ocampo explained in an exclusive interview, after the Canadian-pro-duced documentary Prosecutor, which is about his work, was screened November 15 at the University of Ottawa.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in
The Hague, is urging Canada to help ward off nationalistic interference with the
court’s mandate. He was in Ottawa on November 15.

Ocampo said. “They do it in three ways: with budget; with staffing; and with…expanding the [states’] oversight role—and I think in these three areas Canada could play a critical role.”

VOL. 22, NO. 27 NEWS FOR THE LEGAL PROFESSION DECEMBER 6, 2002
“[States] try to put the
national agenda into inter-
national organizations,” Moreno-
Certainly, Canadians continue
to play important roles at the court,
which has a 104 million euro
STB_LW_basebar_09_ 11_Layout 1 9/1/11 4:55 PM Page 1
budget and whose treaty-based
creation in July, 2002, via the Stat-
ute of Rome was spearheaded by
Canada. Last month, the court
announced that Canadian federal
Department of Justice lawyer Rob-
ert Petit, who has prosecuted war
crimes in Cambodia and Rwanda,
is among four candidates being
He does not share the concern
recently expressed by Louise
Arbour, the former Supreme Court
of Canada judge who was once the
See Morena-Ocamo Page 8

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40065517

PAGE 15

PAGE 21

PAGE 23

The title insurer that puts you front row, centre

Putting the legal community front and centre has made us the #1 choice with Canadian
lawyers/notaries for over a decade. While other title insurers go head to head with
you for your business, Stewart Title does not support programs that reduce or eliminate
the lawyer’s/notary’s role in real estate transactions. Instead, we focus on what matters
to you:
• unsurpassed policy coverage
• competitive pricing
• underwriting expertise
At Stewart Title, we keep real estate transactions where they belong – in your office!