Law Times

LaW TIMeS • NOVeMBeR 2, 2015 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Too late to fix jury questionnaire for 2016 But AG says it's working on notification for potential jurors BY ANASTASIYA JOGAL Law Times hile the Ontario government is promising to fix errors on the juror questionnaire, the Ministry of the Attorney General has con- firmed it's too late to do it for next year. According to ministry spokesman Brendan Crawley, "the questionnaire and instruc- tion sheet can only be changed by a formal regulation amendment. Each year, jury questionnaires are sent out starting in Septem- ber as the first step in compiling the next year's jury roll. Because the Juries Act requires the ques- tionnaires to be mailed out each year by Oct. 31, the question- naires for the 2016 jury roll have already been sent out. 560,924 forms were sent out." While most people with a criminal record wouldn't be eligible to sit on a jury, the forms provide for 20 exceptions. How- ever, three of those listed accept- able offences do in fact bar po- tential candidates from serving, so people who have been cor- rectly filling out the form since 2010 amendments to the Juries Act may have incorrectly served as jurors. Those amendments prohib- ited those convicted of hybrid offences from serving , but in the meantime, at least three of the offences that don't automati- cally disqualify someone have become hybrid offences: imper- sonating a police officer, com- mitting an indecent act, and making indecent or repeated phone calls. "The ministry will be taking steps to amend the question- naire to remove these three of- fences," said Crawley. "It's not surprising they can't change the form," says Scott Bergman, a criminal defence lawyer at Cooper Sandler Shime & Bergman LLP. "I think it just went out this month." The error means some people who have been filling out the form correctly since the 2010 amendments to the Juries Act may have wrongfully served as jurors. "If I didn't realize that I wasn't properly allowed to be part of a jury pool, I could end up on a jury [and] I never should have been on a jury," says Bergman. The Ontario government, however, has noted that the jury roll form is only one of the steps taken in the jury selection pro- cess. Following jury selection, an officer is authorized to randomly conduct criminal record checks on jury panel members and re- move those who are ineligible. As a result, Bergman says the process limits the potential for problems. "You can still ask them ques- tions about their criminal re- cord, I would think, to ensure that they still qualify," he says. While the government is un- able to amend the forms right away, Crawley noted it's working on notifying prospective jurors. "So for as long as this issue or that wording in the question- naire remains, I think what they would have to do is alert each of the actual individuals who are brought into the courthouse that there are certain offences that they may have answered one way [but] in fact it wasn't accurate or was incorrect," says Bergman. "They need to find a way to do that in a fair and also a dis- creet way." LT OBA award for excellence in civil litigation Prominent litigator had an 'aversion to conflict' BY NEIL ETIENNE Law Times rom heated dinnertime debates with her dad as a young woman to appearances in essentially ev- ery level of court in the country, Patricia Jackson has long been carving her reputation as a fierce advocate and litigator. And this is from someone who says she always had an "aversion to conf lict." On Oct. 22, the senior trial and appel- late litigator at Torys LLP joined friends, family, and colleagues at Toronto's Ritz- Carlton Hotel as she received the Ontario Bar Association's award for excellence in civil litigation. While it was a night to honour her work and contributions, she also took some gentle ribbing as she thanked the OBA for recognizing her, her predecessors for inspiring her , and her younger colleagues for continuing to teach her the finer points of civil litiga- tion each day. Jackson said that when she first began her career, civil litigation was something she thought she'd do for a couple of years at most because she dislikes repetition and the drudgery of routine. But civil liti- gation proved anything but routine, she said, noting she finds herself "in the rich- est part of my career." Guest speaker Louise Arbour, a Ca- nadian Walk of Fame member, a former judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, and a long-time colleague of Jackson's, said that when they first met and worked together, Jackson's prowess and poten- tial were obvious. Arbour, who led the commission of inquiry dealing with the Kingston prison for women in the mid-1990s, chose Jackson as commission counsel due to her reputation as a "fierce" litigator. Arbour joked that when they met face to face for the first time, she looked up at the much-taller Jackson and told her she'd have to wear f lats for the next year. "She looked at me and she said, 'Low heels.' But there we were — we were launched," said Arbour, noting it turned into a friendship that lasts today. Arbour also said Jackson represents the best ex- ample of a civil litigator in Canada, par- ticularly for younger women following in her footsteps. As for meeting Arbour, Jackson said she at first sought to put her at ease. "I decided to do a few stupid things so she could talk about them endlessly," said Jackson. "And I must say I did, in fact, wear f lats for a year." LT NEWS Nothing in the cyberworld can be trusted or taken for granted − not by the individual computer user or by global enterprises invested in the latest technologies. Accordingly, this second edition of Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law has been specially updated to address the many new forms of cyberattacks that are compromising the security of all computer users. Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law, Second Edition examines cybercrime threats in Canada and around the world over the past five years, paying particular attention to the challenges afforded by new ways of doing business. This new edition gives you: • The most current and up-to-date analysis of cyber threats and attack vectors • Cyber laws and policies from a Canadian perspective • Emerging trends, future concerns, and policy recommendations New Edition Cybercrime in Canadian Criminal Law, Second Edition Sara M. Smyth, LL.B., LL.B., Ph.D. Know where the latest cybercrime threats are coming from and how to deal with them Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # 986714-65203 $87 Softcover approx. 280 pages October 2015 978-0-7798-6714-1 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. 00233GV-52258 F Patricia Jackson took some gentle ribbing during an Oct. 22 event to present her with the Ontario Bar Association award for excellence in civil litigation. 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