Daniel Jutras appointed amicus curiæ by the Supreme Court of Canada

Professor Daniel Jutras, Dean of the Faculty of Law and Wainwright Chair in Civil Law, has been appointed by the Supreme Court of Canada to serve as amicus curiæ in the Reference on the Reform of the Senate of Canada that was brought to the Court by the Governor in Council.

Dean Jutras will be working with Mr. John Hunter of the Hunter Litigation Chambers Law Corporation in Vancouver, also appointed amicus curiæ by the Supreme Court. Locally, Dean Jutras will be assisted by Ms. Kate Glover, a DCL candidate in the Faculty.  The team has been directed by the Court to exercise its “independent judgment regarding the reference questions posed by the Governor in Council, and to make submissions on the merits.”

They will present written submissions by mid-September 2013, and oral submissions will be heard by the Court in mid-November 2013. All provinces and territories have intervened in this reference. Dean Jutras said, “This promises to be one of the most significant constitutional cases of the decade.”

See a fact sheet on the Reference by the Governor in Council concerning reform of the Senate.