The Second Canadian Mission to Croatia - Hon. F. B. William Kelly
The second Canadian mission to Croatia took place from April 8 to April 18, 2000. The purpose of this mission was to consult with the NGO partners on future development of the Program, to launch the Project publically in Croatia by meeting with Croatian government officials and judicial authorities, and to engage a pre-selection process of the Croatian judges who will be coming to Canada in November. The Mission consisted of Judge Michèle Rivet, President of the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal, Justice Mel Rothman, Quebec Court of Appeal, and Justice Bill Kelly, Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, and the Project Director, Me Myriam De Blois. Judge Rivet and Me De Blois went to the region a few days before the start of the Mission to explore the possibility of further missions in Slovenia and Macedonia. Judge Rivet and Me De Blois met separately with officials of our two NGOs, the Croatian Helsinki Committee and the Croatian Law Centre. The Mission recognized that it was necessary to devote considerable time with the NGO partners to develop a good working relationship that would facilitate the necessary consensus on Project matters and promote practical and efficient financial and administrative cooperation.

We were warmly received by the Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs and senior staff members, who all made it clear that the recent change of government has resulted in a sea change of attitude toward our Program. They were knowledgeable about our Project and supportive of any education initiative relating to discussions on judicial independence, and they promised their full cooperation.

These Croatian officials emphasized that the current program of dramatic government reforms is designed to transform the former one-party system with a unity of powers (executive, legislative and judiciary) into a fully democratic system. They indicated what they felt were the deficiencies of their judicial system and outlined some of their efforts to correct them, notwithstanding that these efforts are continually impeded by insufficient funds resulting from the many demands on a government with limited resources. They also made a number of useful suggestions regarding our program with the Croatian judges, especially concerning the exchange of views and techniques on the expression of judicial independence in Canada and Croatia. Other subjects discussed such were judicial discipline, judicial education, judicial benefits, ethics and court management. We had separate meetings with the Chief Justices of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court of Croatia, during which both Chief Justices expressed interest in the Project and described at some length the activities and specific problems of their courts. Chief Justice Mirijan Ramuscak of the Supreme Court agreed to have a member of his court participate in the Project and subsequently appointed Justice Jasna Brezanski to be a member of the Croatian Mission to Canada in May, 2000. Our reception at a joint meeting of the Chiefs of the County and Municipal Courts was most encouraging. They were extremely supportive of the program, and we believe they will play an important long-term role in the Program, particularly in the Program's second-year education activity in Croatia. They also gave us a better perspective on the day-to-day problems of their courts, many of them arising from their inexperienced judiciary, over half of whom are under the age of 32. They indicated that their judges need education in judicial ethics and independence and training in methods and techniques for dealing with intimidating back-logs and case loads. They also indicated a need for training in techniques to deal effectively with more pragmatic problems, such as the lack of electrical power and even paper in some of the courts and the limited availability of technical aids such as computers.

The Mission members were very satisfied with the process used by the NGOs in obtaining applicants for the Canadian seminar in November. As a result of public nation-wide advertisements, over sixty judges applied. These applications were reviewed by the NGOs, who then invited about 34 judges for interviews. The Mission members and representatives of the NGOs met with these candidates over a four-hour period. The judges spoke for several minutes on their background, the needs of their courts, and their expectations for the Project. This was followed by a lengthy exchange of views on court-related subjects and Project matters.

At the end of our week we met with a representatives of each NGO and jointly considered the number of highly impressive judges who were interviewed. We concluded that we had more qualified candidates than the fifteen provided for and determined to involve those not chosen at this time in later aspects of the Project. The group made significant progress in the selection process, which will be finalized during the third Canadian Mission in June.

One of the highlights of the week was our visit to the Zagreb Law School, where we had been invited to speak to a Criminal Procedure class. We brought a translator, but, to our surprise, the 120 students asked us to address them in English. The spirited hour-and-a-half session ended with an intensive question period, and we left with a strong impression of the students' intelligence, their knowledgeability, and their seriousness about the profession of law.

The members concluded that the Mission was even more successful than we had anticipated. We found the Croatian NGOs competent and serious about developing a successful project with us, and we are satisfied that we are dealing with sincere and competent judges who are clearly interested and indeed enthusiastic about the prospect of contact with Canadian judges and the exchange of views on various aspects of judicial independence. The next phases of the Program are the Croatian Mission in May and a further Canadian Mission in June, 2000.

First Croatian Mission to Canada
The first visit to Canada of a Croatian delegation took place between May 20 and May 27, 2000. Members of the delegation included Hon. Jasna Brezanski of the Supreme Court of Croatia, Hon. Damir Kos of the Zagreb County Court, Professor Ivo Josipovic, who represented the Croatian Law Centre, and Bojun Munjin, who represented the Croatian Helsinki Committee. During the Montreal segment of the visit, the delegation met with a range of representatives of the Quebec legal and judicial community, including Professor H. Patrick Glenn, McGill University, Hon. Huguette St-Louis, Chief Justice of the Quebec Court, Hon. Pierre A. Michaud, Chief Justice of the Quebec Court of Appeal, and Hon. André Deslongchamps, Associate Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court. During these meetings, the delegation was introduced to the workings of the Canadian judicial system and commenced a dialogue focusing on the principle concerns of the project, the independence and impartiality of judges and the implementation of judicial reform programs in Croatia.

The delegation spent one day in Ottawa, during which they met with Hon. Frank Iacobucci of the Supreme Court of Canada, with members of the Canadian Section executive, and with Senator Gerald-A. Beaudoin. They also observed a Supreme Court trial and toured the Parliament buildings.

New Project Director for Croatia Project
As of August 1, 2000, Me Jacques Papy of Montreal will replace Me Myriam De Blois as director of the Croatia Project. Me Papy studied public and private international law, as well as international human rights law, at Strasbourg, Leeds, Montreal, and the Hague. He worked for two years in the Czech Republic, and currently works as a lawyer at McCarthy Tétrault in Montreal. Me Papy has been invited by the Quebec Ministry of Justice to become part of the Canadian delegation to the special commission of The Hague Conference, responsible for the drafting of the future Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters.

In addition to acting as project director for the Croatia Project, Me Papy is pursing graduate studies in international human rights law at McGill University, under the supervision of Peter Leuprecht.

Annual Meeting in Halifax
The Annual Meeting of the International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section) will be held on Monday, August 21, 2000, in the World Trade and Convention Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The special program will be a joint presentation of the Canadian Section and the Canadian Judges' Forum, ADeath by a Thousand Cuts: Are Attacks on Judges and Lawyers Endangering Our Legal System?@ The moderator will be Hon. François Rolland, and speakers will include Hon. W. Ian Binnie, Hon. Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Thomas G. Heintzman, O.C., Q.C., and Hon. Nasir Zahid, former justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The special program will be followed by the presentation of the Hon. Walter S. Tarnopolsky Award to this year's recipient, Joseph J. Arvay, Q.C., who will then address the meeting. The business meeting will follow the presentation of the Tarnopolsky Award. A brief meeting of Council will take place after the business meeting.

The full agenda with details of time and place is appended to this newsletter.

MEMBERSHIP

The membership drive undertaken in New Brunswick by Gordon Fairweather and the Hon. G.V. La Forest has been enormously successful, resulting in 42 new members, an increase of over 300% in that province.

At present, slightly less than half of our members have paid their fees for 2000. If you receive one of the reminder letters recently mailed, we ask that you please remit your fees at your earliest convenience. A renewal form is enclosed.

PUBLICATIONS

Copies of the following press releases from the International Commission of Jurists are available on request from the Ottawa office:

• 12 April 2000 - Jurists Denounce Lethal Weapons for Control of Peaceful Demonstration in Gambia
• 28 May 2000 - ICJ Condemns Military Takeover in Fiji
• 27 June 2000 - OAS Mission to Peru: ICJ Denounces Breakdown of Rule of Law
• The ICJ's 3-page assessment of the 56th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights is also available.

Notes on Contributors
Hon. F.B. William Kelly is a justice of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia and is Vice-President for the Atlantic region for the Canadian Section. Justice Kelly also took part in the Canadian Section's delegation to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in January 1999.

 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS (CANADIAN SECTION)

Annual General Meeting
August 21, 2000, at 1:30 p.m.
World Trade & Convention Centre
Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

1:30 - Special Joint Program with the Canadian Judges' Forum: Death by a Thousand Cuts: Are Attacks on Judges and Lawyers Endangering Our Legal System?

Moderator:
The Hon. François Rolland, Quebec Superior Court

Speakers:
The Hon. W. Ian Binnie, Supreme Court of Canada
The Hon. Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Supreme Court of Canada, President, International Commission of Jurists
Thomas G. Heintzman, O.C., Q.C., McCarthy, Tétrault
The Hon. Nasir Zahid, former Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan

3:30 - Presentation of the Hon. Walter S. Tarnopolsky Award by Hon. Michèle Rivet, President, Quebec Human Rights Tribunal and President, International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section), to Joseph J. Arvay, Q.C. of Arvay, Finlay, Victoria, B.C. An address by the recipient will follow the presentation.

4:45 - Annual Meeting of the International Commission of Jurists (Canadian Section)

AGENDA

1. Minutes of the 1999 Annual General Meeting
2. President's Report - The Hon. Michèle Rivet
3. Financial and membership matters - Charles T. Hackland
4. Nominating committee report - Senator Gerald-A. Beaudoin
5. Other business

A meeting of Council will be held following the Annual Meeting.