TORONTO, February 20, 2006 -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced today that Peter W. Hogg, Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, will deliver the opening and closing remarks for the country's first-ever televised public hearing for the review of the new nominee for the Supreme Court of Canada.
The nominee will be named Thursday and a three-hour televised public hearing of the 12-member, all-party committee will be held on Monday. The government's final decision on who will fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Justice John Major will be made on March 1.
"Peter Hogg is Canada’s finest constitutional lawyer and an eminent legal scholar who will bring distinction and decorum to the public hearing, " said Patrick Monahan, who succeeded Hogg as Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School in 2003.
Monahan and Hogg made a joint presentation to the House of Commons Justice Committee in April 2004 in which they called for a non-partisan review committee to evaluate Supreme Court appointments and a review protocol to govern the proceedings of the review committee. In addition, they recommended that the review committee should retain independent and well-respected legal counsel to assist the committee in its proceedings and to resolve any issues that may arise in relation to the implementation or observance of the review protocol by the committee.
Hogg, who has been a professor at the Law School since 1970, was Dean of Osgoode from 1998 to 2003. He is also "scholar in residence" at the law firm of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP. During the span of his career, he has successfully combined and complemented teaching and scholarly responsibilities with work as outside counsel, commentator and provider of expert testimony in constitutional law.
The author of Constitutional Law of Canada and Liability of the Crown as well as other books and articles, he became a member of the Queen’s Counsel in 1980, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1988, an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991, and a recipient of the Law Society Medal, Law Society of Upper Canada in 1996. He has a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of New Zealand, a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard University, a Doctor of Laws (PhD) from Melbourne’s Monash University, and an Honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) from the Law Society of Upper Canada.
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For further information, please contact:
Virginia Corner
Communications Manager
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca
