The Magna Carta and its impact: ICJC Conference in Montreal

As one of ICJC’s regional activities, its Québec chapter held a symposium at the Quebec Court of Appeal in Montreal, entitled “The Magna Carta and its impact here”, to highlight the 800th anniversary of the Great Charter. Organized by ICJC Board Members Stéphane Beaulac, professor at the University of Montreal, and former judge Pierre Dalphond, now with Stikeman Elliott, this conference had an impressive line-up of speakers. They included Nicole Duval-Hesler, Chief Justice of Quebec, senator Serge Joyal, criminal law lawyer Jean-Claude Hébert, President of the Quebec Human Rights Commission Jacques Frémont, and Dean Nathalie Des Rosiers. The speakers dealt with various topics tied to the legacy of the Magna Carta, but that remain of importance today, including women’s rights, fundamental liberties, and jury trials.

This highly engaging conference was followed by the public launching of the Observatory on National Security Measures, for which Stéphane Beaulac is the founding director. The observatory is one of ICJC’s regional activities, and is housed by the University of Montreal’s Centre for Research in Public Law (CRDP). It is a web-based resource that has the mission of storing documents and following developments related to national security measures. The site is bilingual, and will be a hub for discussion on the risks and challenges in this area. It is a project of inter-institutional collaboration of the law faculties of the University of Montreal (Stéphane Beaulac), Laval Université (Fannie Lafontaine), Université of Ottawa (Errol Mendes), and Dalhousie Université (Rob Currie).

The event closed with a cocktail reception to commemorate the Honourable Louise Arbour, C.C.,G.O.Q., winner of the 2015 Tarnopolsky Prize.