TORONTO’S ARBITRATION PROFILE BOOSTEDThe International Chamber of Commerce has announced an agreement with Arbitration Place in Toronto to bolster its presence in North America.
Under the parameters of the agreement, Arbitration Place will provide office facilities for the ICC’s International Court of Arbitration to conduct its operations in the city. In return, the ICC will advocate the use of Arbitration Place for arbitration hearings in Toronto.
Established just before the opening of an office of the ICC court’s secretariat in New York, the agreement is in line with its objective of making services more accessible to parties, their counsel, and arbitrators in the region.
“This is a very significant development for arbitration in Canada. I am thrilled by it,” says Barry Leon, head of the international arbitration group at Perley-Robertson Hill & McDougall LLP.
Leon says arbitration practitioners are increasingly considering Canada as a venue for their arbitrations to resolve commercial and investor-state disputes.
Having the ICC commit to a presence at Arbitration Place will help Toronto and Canada become more of a focal point for international arbitration, he adds.
“All Canadians who participate in international arbitration will benefit from this focus by the ICC on Canada,” says Leon.
“We are thrilled that the ICC, one of the oldest and most respected institutions for international commercial arbitration in the world, has recognized the quality of our facilities and service and will be advocating the use of Arbitration Place for hearings,” says Kimberley Stewart, CEO of Arbitration Place.
LSUC AWARDS HANDED OUT THIS MONTHThe Law Society of Upper Canada will present awards to 10 members of the legal profession on May 29. The 10 are people whose careers have shown “the highest level of achievement and commitment to serving society and the profession.”
LSUC Treasurer Tom Conway will present the Law Society medal, the Lincoln Alexander award, the Laura Legge award, and the Law Society Distinguished Paralegal award at a ceremony at Osgoode Hall.
The Law Society medal recipients are Dan Chilcott, Paul Copeland, Ralph Haskings Frayne, Edward Greenspan, Martha McCarthy, Roy McMurtry, and Delia Opekokew.
Frank Walwyn will receive the Lincoln Alexander award while the Laura Legge Award will go to Marie Henein. Elaine Page will receive this year’s Distinguished Paralegal award.
AG TO SUPPORT BILL C-489 Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has announced his support for a private member’s bill that would impose further restrictions on offenders conditionally released from prison.
Mark Warawa, MP for Langley, B.C., is sponsoring the bill that he has dubbed an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act.
Bill C-489 would make it illegal for child sex offenders to come closer than two kilometres to their victims’ dwelling and requires those on conditional release to be “under strict conditions not to contact their victims, unless the victim consents or there are exceptional circumstances present,” according to a press release from the Department of Justice.
“The government’s support for this bill demonstrates our commitment to standing up for victims and keeping our streets and communities safe,” said Nicholson.
“I am pleased to support my colleague Mark Warawa in his efforts to protect victims from being further traumatized by contact with their offenders after they are released.”
POLL RESULTSThe results for the latest Law Times
online poll are in.
According to the poll, 46 per cent of poll respondents believe the solution to concerns arising from self-represented litigants is to improve the quality of online legal help with live people available to provide followup advice and information.
About 40 per cent of respondents said the solution is to expand legal aid to offer full representation to more people. The rest of participants said doing nothing is the best course of action because helping self-represented litigants would cost too much.
The poll follows a recent Law Times article about the struggles of self-represented litigants who complained of confusion and wasted hours as they navigate the court system on their own.
