Announcements and events

Kim Senklip Harvey, from the Syilx and Tsilhqot'in nations, is a director, actor, TV writer and recipient of the 2023 Vanier Scholarship. She intertwines storytelling, culture and the nuances of law, offering profound insights into their interconnectedness.

Located on Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Esquimalt) territory, the National Centre for Indigenous Laws* (NCIL) at the University of Victoria is still under construction but its architectural design is already winning awards. Slated to open in late Fall 2024, the NCIL has received a 2023 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence, celebrating its Coast Salish design elements and focus on bringing the surrounding forest into the building.

POSITION: The Law Centre, a service of the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, is inviting applications for an Articled Student position for the 2024/25 year.

UVic Law has created the Inuit Women Legal Scholar Award. One award of $20,000 is given to an entering or continuing undergraduate woman or two-spirit Inuit student in the Faculty of Law who has demonstrated leadership experience in their school or community.

Esteemed legal scholar and elected provincial official Andrew Petter, KC will receive UVic’s highest academic honour on November 15 with an honorary degree, formally recognizing the exceptional contributions he has made over a span of several decades.

I write to express, on behalf of our university community, our horror at the terrorist attacks in Israel last week and the shocking violence unfolding in Gaza. We collectively offer our deepest condolences for the victims and innocent civilians caught up in this escalating cycle of violence. There are members of our university community who have lost family and loved ones, and our hearts go out to them and all who are affected by these tragic events. Acts of violence, hate and terrorism have no place in our shared pursuit of knowledge, understanding and peace.

Emeritus Professor Donovan WM Waters, KC, FRSC died on September 9 in Ottawa. Donovan joined the faculty in 1977 and officially retired in 1993 to spend the following 25 years practicing and consulting at the Bar in Victoria and Vancouver. The leading Canadian authority on trusts law and a global leader in this field, Donovan’s reputation brought great credit to the Faculty of Law and the University of Victoria. The University awarded him an Honorary Doctorate in 1995. Donovan and his late wife Maryla were mainstays of the faculty in its early days, and of Victoria’s arts community. In retirement, Donovan maintained strong connections to UVic Law. Ever kind and generous with his students and his colleagues, Donovan’s inspirational influence, even after his retirement from the Faculty, will be greatly missed. Further information about a memorial service is awaited, and we will post it when we receive it.

Freya is a proud graduate of the faculty’s co-op program (Class of ’95) where she shared the William R. McIntyre Award for academic excellence, community service and student leadership. She returned to UVic Law as a faculty member in 2005, after time in practice, primarily in the area of poverty law, and after completing her graduate work at York University. She served as Associate Dean, Administration and Research from 2016 to 2021, playing a critical leadership role in implementing the JD/JID program and responding to the pandemic, two of the most important events in the history of UVic Law. She has an exemplary record of teaching and research, implementing equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation initiatives, and supporting faculty, staff and student success.

Steve Perks retires as Director of the Law Centre at the end of June, 2023. Our clinical teaching program welcomes Chris Heslinga as Assistant Teaching Professor and Law Centre Director on July 1, 2023.

The William R. McIntyre Medal is awarded to the member of the graduating class who exhibits the highest qualities of academic excellence, community service and student leadership. The medal recognizes the special relationship that the Faculty of Law has enjoyed with the Honourable William R. McIntyre, who retired from the Supreme Court of Canada in 1989. This year’s McIntyre Medal winner is Jinjae Jeong.

The Canadian Association for Legal Ethics / Association canadienne pour l’ethique juridique (CALE/ACEJ) annual conference will be hosted in-person at the University of Victoria on October 20th and 21st, 2023.

The UVic Faculty of Law presents: Indigenous Law: Today and Tomorrow with John Borrows and Val Napoleon 7:30 p.m. Farquhar Auditorium, University of Victoria. Join Chancellor Shelagh Rogers, Indigenous leaders, community members, and scholars to mark this historic moment as we celebrate the launch of the world’s first Indigenous law degree. Dr. Borrows will explore Salish Law and Land: Lessons Learned and Dr. Napoleon will look at the future of Indigenous Law: Fast Forward. This free public lecture has reserved seating.

Shiri Pasternak presents "What is colonialism that does not dispossess? Ecologies of Care and Supply at Barriere Lake." This presentation examines the materialities of colonialism from the perspective of a present-day Algonquin community in northern Quebec.