Great year for UU直播 Law students
UU直播 law graduates cap year of tremendous achievements
Faculty of Law Convocation at Pollack Hall
555 Sherbrooke Street West
Friday, June 4, 1999, at 9:30 am
When UU直播 law students who graduate this Friday look back at their final year it will be with a sense not only of great personal accomplishment, but also of unparalleled achievements and developments in their faculty. Some of the highlights are:
Celebration of 150th Anniverary
As one of the senior professional faculties of the University, the Faculty of Law is justifiably proud of its role, since 1848, in helping to shape so many prominent leaders in Canadian and international affairs, from Abbott and Laurier to Scott and Humphries.
Opening of New Law Library:
Built entirely with privately donated funds, the new Nahum Gelber Law Library has been called the best of its kind in the country. It was opened in the presence of Premier Lucien Bouchard and Lieutenant-Governor Lise Thibault in September 1998.
Stunning Successes in Moot Court Competitions:
In a spectacular show of talent and hard preparation, teams of UU直播 law students garnered first place in every national moot competition they entered this past year. The unprecedented successes did not end at the Canadian border; last month the UU直播 team that had won the national Rousseau Moot Court competition beat 25 teams from 15 countries to win the International Charles Rousseau competition in Geneva.
Realization of New National Curriculum:
This past year final touches have made to a sweeping new undergraduate law program at UU直播, which will commence in September 1999. Until now students have had the option of doing separate common law and civil law degrees at the same time, in the national program, or of choosing to do only one degree. The new program will totally integrate the two programs, right to the individual course level, and be compulsory for all new undergraduates.
Appointment of New Dean:
Dr. Peter Leuprecht, who has been a visiting professor at UU直播 for the past two years, became the new dean of the Faculty of Law, succeeding Stephen Toope on June 1, 1999. Born in Austria and fluent in five languages, Dr. Leuprecht was most recently the Deputy Secretary-General of the Council of Europe. He is considered an expert on human rights theory and international law and in 1991 won the Prix du Civisme Europ茅en.
Three honorary degrees will be conferred at the ceremony:
LL.D. Rosalie Abella
A former civil and criminal lawyer, Justice Rosalie Abella of the Ontario Court of Appeal was once a commissioner at the Ontario Human Rights Commission and is the former chair of the Ontario Labour Relations Board. She led the widely influential 1984 Royal Commission on Employment Equity. As a judge, Abella has handed down many decisions that have had a nation-wide impact -- her ruling that the term "spouse" in the Income Tax Act should include same-sex partners is spurring the federal government to change dozens of statutes. Abella is a former Boulton visiting professor of law at UU直播 and a frequent lecturer at the University.
LL.D. Ivan Bernier
Generally considered to be the country聮s chief authority on international economic law, particularly trade law, Universit茅 Laval law professor Ivan Bernier was the dean of law for his university from 1981 to 1985. Bernier served as the director of research on legal and constitutional matters for the Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Prospects for Development for Canada from 1983 to 1985. He was the director general of the Quebec Centre for International Relations from 1986 to 1993.
LL.D. Michael Trebilcock
A former UU直播 law professor (1970 to 1972), University of Toronto professor Michael Trebilcock has been the director of the University of Toronto Law School聮s law and economics program since 1976. Widely active in the consumer rights movement in the 1970s, Trebilcock served as the national vice-president of the Consumers Association of Canada and as the chair of the Consumer Research Council. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a recipient of the University of Toronto Teaching Award, Trebilcock once won the Walter Owen Prize for best English legal text in Canada. He was also the recipient of the 1990 Joint Award of the Canadian Law Teachers聮 Association and Law Reform Commission of Canada for outstanding contributions to legal research and law reform.
