Related Research Articles
In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel is a senior trial lawyer appointed by the monarch of the country as a 'Counsel learned in the law'. When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is called Queen's Counsel (QC).
The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictions that have chosen to change the title "King's Counsel" to a name without monarchical connotations, usually related to the British monarch that is no longer head of state, such that reference to the King is no longer appropriate. Examples of jurisdictions that have made the change because of the latter reason include Mauritius, Zambia, India, Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa, Kenya, Malawi, Singapore, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Jurisdictions that have retained the monarch as head of state, but have nonetheless opted for the new title include some states and territories of Australia, as well as Belize.
The Canadian Oath of Allegiance is a promise or declaration of fealty to the Canadian monarch—as personification of the Canadian state and its authority, rather than as an individual person—taken, along with other specific oaths of office, by new occupants of various federal and provincial government offices; members of federal, provincial, and municipal police forces; members of the Canadian Armed Forces; and, in some provinces, all lawyers upon admission to the bar. The Oath of Allegiance also makes up the first portion of the Oath of Citizenship, the taking of which is a requirement of obtaining Canadian nationality.
The Attorney General of Ontario is the chief legal adviser to His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. The Attorney General is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario and oversees the Ministry of the Attorney General – the department responsible for the oversight of the justice system in the province of Ontario. The Attorney General is an elected Member of Provincial Parliament who is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on the constitutional advice of the Premier of Ontario.
The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judicial positions on the Court in addition to supernumerary judges, making for a grand total of 108 judges. There are also 13 Supreme Court masters, who hear and dispose of a wide variety of applications in chambers.
The Metro Vancouver Transit Police (MVTP), previously the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority Police Service and formally the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority Police Service (SCBCTAPS), is the police force for TransLink, the public transit system of the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada.
Wallace Taroo "Wally" Oppal, is a Canadian lawyer, former judge and provincial politician. Between 2005 and 2009, he served as British Columbia's Attorney General and Minister responsible for Multiculturalism, as well as Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia for the riding of Vancouver-Fraserview as part of the BC Liberals.
Bruce Ralston is a Canadian politician. He is a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of British Columbia, representing the riding of Surrey-Whalley since 2005. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), he has served in the cabinets of Premiers John Horgan and David Eby since 2017, currently as Minister of Forests.
A President's Counsel is an eminent lawyer who is appointed by the President of Sri Lanka as an individual "learned in the law". The term is an honorific that replaced the Queen's Counsel (QC), which Sri Lanka ceased appointing when it became a republic in 1972. It is equivalent to the appointment of a King's Counsel in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms, and that of Senior Counsel in Commonwealth republics, bearing the same privileges, such as sitting within the Bar of court.
The attorney general of British Columbia (AG) oversees the Ministry of Attorney General, a provincial government department responsible for the oversight of the justice system, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. The attorney general is a member of the provincial cabinet, typically a member of Legislative Assembly who is chosen by the premier of British Columbia and formally appointed by the lieutenant governor of British Columbia.
Richard C.C. Peck, is a British Columbia lawyer who has been counsel in many significant criminal cases at all judicial levels including the Supreme Court of Canada and has been appointed by provincial governments to serve as a special prosecutor.
William ("Bill") S. Berardino, is a British Columbia lawyer who was appointed by the provincial government to serve as a special prosecutor in the trials associated with the BC Legislature Raids.
Kerry-Lynne Donna Findlay is a Canadian politician who has served as the member of Parliament for South Surrey—White Rock since 2019, and previously represented the electoral district of Delta—Richmond East in the House of Commons of Canada from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Conservative Party, she had served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice, Associate Minister of National Defence, and Minister of National Revenue while that party was in power under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Joseph James Arvay, was a Canadian lawyer who argued numerous landmark cases involving civil liberties and constitutional rights.
Madame Justice Barbara M. Young is a judge on the Supreme Court of British Columbia.
Women work in the legal profession and related occupations throughout Canada, as lawyers, prosecutors, judges, legal scholars, law professors and law school deans. In Canada, while 37.1% of lawyers are women, "50% ...said they felt their [law] firms were doing "poorly" or "very poorly" in their provision of flexible work arrangements". It was also reported that, in 2006 in Ontario, "racialized women accounted for 16% of all lawyers under 30" and that only 1% of lawyers were Aboriginal.
Paul D.K. Fraser was a Canadian lawyer from British Columbia. He served as the Conflict Commissioner for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as well as the president of the Canadian Bar Association (1981–1982), the Commonwealth Lawyers Association (1993–1996), and of the Canadian section of the International Commission of Jurists. He also chaired a review of pornography and prostitution laws for the government of Canada.
Marion R. Buller, is a First Nations jurist in British Columbia and current chancellor of the University of Victoria. Buller served as the Chief Commissioner for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls from 2016 to 2019.
Bryan Williams is a Canadian lawyer and retired judge from Vancouver, British Columbia. He was a puisne justice on the British Columbia Court of Appeal and also Chief Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court. In addition to an extensive litigation practice, he was heavily involved in a number of organizations relating to the practice of law and the administration of justice, including a term as national president of the Canadian Bar Association.
In Canada, a special prosecutor is a lawyer appointed in certain circumstances to ensure the fairness of prosecution.
References
- ↑ King's Counsel Act, RSBC 1996, c 393, ss 2,3,4.
- ↑ BC Gov News Release, 16 December 2016: "Exceptional lawyers recognized with Queen's counsel designation".
- ↑ Queen's Counsel Act, RSBC 1996, c 393, s 1.
- ↑ Attorney General of British Columbia Press Release Archives
- ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General (17 December 2019). "26 lawyers recognized with Queen's counsel designation | BC Gov News".
- ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General (22 December 2020). "26 lawyers appointed as Queen's counsel | BC Gov News".
- ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General (4 May 2023). "B.C. lawyers named first King's counsels | BC Gov News".
- ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General (12 December 2023). "Outstanding lawyers appointed to King's counsel | BC Gov News".
- ↑ British Columbia Ministry of Attorney General (2 December 2021). "Thirty lawyers appointed as Queen's counsel | BC Gov News".