Supreme Court of Canada Justice to speak at UPEI October 5

The Honourable Thomas Cromwell, of the Supreme Court of Canada, will be the guest lecturer at the Chief Justice Thane A. Campbell Lectureship in Law at the University of Prince Edward Island on Monday, October 5.

Cromwell will give a lecture entitled 'Atlantic Canada's Contributions to the Supreme Court of Canada' in the Alex H. MacKinnon Auditorium (Room 242), Don and Marion McDougall Hall, at 7:30 p.m.

'Since the Supreme Court of Canada was created in 1875, 12 judges of the Court have been appointed from the Atlantic region, including Sir Louis Henry Davies, an Islander who served as the Chief Justice of Canada,' says Cromwell. 'From markedly different backgrounds, they have made significant contributions to the institution and to Canadian jurisprudence. This illustrated lecture will trace the development of the Court from its early days as an intermediate court of appeal to its present role as the court of last resort with special attention to the contributions of these judges.'

Cromwell was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada on December 22, 2008. He had previously been appointed to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on August 27, 1997. He holds a B. Mus. (1973) and an LL.B. (1976) from Queen's University. He also obtained an A.R.C.T. diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1974 and attended Oxford University, where he earned a B.C.L. in 1977.

He practised law in Toronto and taught in the Faculty of Law of Dalhousie University. He worked as Executive Legal Officer to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer from 1992-95 and has held many other offices. He has served on the Canadian Judicial Council's working committee that prepared the publication entitled Ethical Principles for Judges, as well as its working committee on jury charges and education. He was also a faculty member for programs for new federally and provincially appointed judges, the National Judicial Institute's intensive evidence program, and other national and provincial continuing education programs. He has written or contributed to six books and numerous articles, and served on the editorial boards for CRIMJI and the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice.

His awards include the C.B.A.'s Louis J. St. Laurent Award of Excellence, 1992; Her Majesty's Jubilee Medal, 2002; the Dalhousie Law Students Society and Dalhousie Law Alumni Association Award of Teaching Excellence, 1992; and the Dalhousie Law Students' Society Class of 1986 Class Ring.

The Chief Justice Thane A. Campbell Lectureship in Law is co-sponsored by UPEI and the Law Foundation of Prince Edward Island. In 1991, the Foundation created an endowment at UPEI to provide a stimulating series of lectures in honour of Chief Justice Thane A. Campbell, former premier of PEI and first chancellor of UPEI.