Ottawa — Do people have the right to choose the manner and time of their own death? Can law schools discriminate against students based on their sexual orientation? How can concerns for human rights be embedded in the International Olympic Committee’s selection process for hosting the Olympic Games?
Those are just some of the issues and resolutions that will be explored at the 2014 Canadian Bar Association’s (CBA) bi-annual national meeting to be held in Ottawa February 22-23.
A resolution on access to justice, based on recommendations contained in the CBA’s report on Reaching Equal Justice, will also be considered during the two-day meeting.
“CBA members will have the opportunity for discussion and debate on a range of substantive issues of concern to both the legal profession and the public,” says CBA President Fred Headon, of Montreal.
End-of-life panel
(Live webcast at National Magazine, Sunday, February 23 at 11 AM ET)
In the wake of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to revisit assisted suicide laws, panelists will examine the complex legal, medical and ethical issues at stake and offer insight on recent developments in courts and legislatures to address these difficult issues, including who has the right to decide when treatment should be withheld or withdrawn.
Permanent Olympics Human Rights monitor
As the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi draw to a close, CBA Council will debate a resolution asking the International Olympic Committee to create a permanent arm’s-length mechanism to monitor and evaluate human rights in bids to host the Games.
Non-discrimination in legal education
CBA Council members will debate a resolution urging the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the provincial and territorial law societies to require all legal education programs to provide equal opportunity to all students without discrimination.
National Council is CBA’s representative governing body and consists of 232 voting members. The 2014 CBA Mid-Winter Meeting of Council takes place at the Fairmont Château Laurier, February 22 and 23. Debate on the resolutions is scheduled at different times on those days.
The Canadian Bar Association is dedicated to support for the rule of law, and improvement in the law, and the administration of justice. Members include some 37,500 lawyers, law teachers, and law students from across Canada.
For accreditation and agenda details, please contact Hannah Bernstein at hannahb@cba.org.