Legal Feeds in in July 2017

Could federal law enforcement in this country benefit from having another tool to deal with white collar crime? Transparency International Canada thinks it would and is promoting the idea of a deferred prosecution agreement scheme.

A recent report from TI Canada’s volunteer legal committee called “Another Arrow in the Quiver? Consideration of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement Scheme in Canada” outlines the pros and cons of DPAs and how they work in other jurisdictions.

DPAs are agreements between enforcement authorities and a corporation whereby the authorities agree to refrain from prosecuting the corporation for certain apprehended offences provided that the corporation makes various undertakings and other public interest criteria are met.

What’s the right age to consider applying to the bench and how do you get your application noticed? According to Justice Susan Lang, now retired from the Court of Appeal for Ontario, it has less to do with a specific age and more to do with where you are in your career and what you’ve accomplished.

Lang spoke as part of the “In August Company: Advancing Women’s Leadership on the Bench” panel, part of the 2017 Women’s Transformative Leadership Forum held in Toronto recently. The panel also included three other women judges all with a range of experience on the bench who spoke about their own experiences.

Lang, originally from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., was on the Court of Appeal from 2004 to 2013, a judge of Superior Court from 1989 to 2004 and Toronto Regional senior judge from 1996 to 1999.