Constitution
Statement of Purpose
The Uniform Law Conference of Canada has been constituted by the federal, provincial and territorial governments of Canada to provide independent and informed analysis and recommendations for the harmonisation and reform of laws in Canada. It does so by developing and recommending to the constituent jurisdictions uniform and model acts, statements of legal principles and other documents and by recommending reforms to the criminal law of Canada.
The Uniform Law Conference of Canada is unique amongst legal organisations in Canada in that it:
- addresses both the civil law and the criminal law, and provides a joint forum for matters pertaining to both;
- is devoted both to the harmonisation and to the substantive modernisation and reform of law;
- is bijural and bilingual in its work; and
- brings together people from across the national legal community, including lawyers from the federal, provincial and territorial governments and prosecution services, law reform agencies, the private bar, the Canadian Bar Association, la Chambre des notaires du Québec, legal academia and the judiciary.
These distinctive characteristics give the Uniform Law Conference of Canada a breadth of expertise that is unique and allow it to provide independent expert research, analysis and advice that would be otherwise unavailable to individual jurisdictions.
The federal, provincial and territorial governments and Canadians benefit from uniform and model acts and other instruments that can address matters of multijurisdictional concern and from recommendations aimed at making the civil and criminal law more fair, clear, modern and effective.
As the criminal justice system in Canada is a matter of shared constitutional responsibility between the federal, provincial and territorial governments, the Uniform Law Conference of Canada provides an opportunity for delegates to identify legal and operational issues that might benefit from legislative reform.
Canada is assisted in its international obligations by the preparation of uniform acts to implement international conventions and other international private law instruments on matters of provincial and territorial responsibility.
The federal, provincial and territorial governments have recognised the importance to all Canadians of the dedicated, non-partisan and principled harmonisation and improvement of the law carried out by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada since 1918.
Mandate
The mandate of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada is to develop uniform and model acts, statements of legal principles and other documents and to recommend them to the constituent jurisdictions for their consideration as well as to recommend changes to the Criminal Code of Canada and other related criminal law statutes and to provide a forum to study and consult on evolving criminal law issues.
Structure
The Uniform Law Conference of Canada consists of the Civil Section and the Criminal Section that shall serve the Mandate of the ULCC in accordance with their respective areas of expertise.
Participation
Canada, the provinces and the territories, being constituent jurisdictions of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada, may appoint a jurisdictional representative for each Section to carry out the duties set out in the by-laws. Other persons may participate in accordance with the by-laws.
Governance
The activities of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada shall be administered by an Executive Committee to be established in accordance with the by-laws. The activities of a Section shall be administered by a Steering Committee to be established in accordance with the by-laws. All committees shall be vested by the by-laws with the powers and responsibilities that are appropriate to enable the ULCC and Sections to carry out their mandates.
By-laws
The Uniform Law Conference of Canada may adopt by-laws, consistent with this Constitution, that it considers appropriate to enable it to carry out its mandate.
Policies
The Uniform Law Conference of Canada may adopt policies, consistent with this Constitution, that it considers appropriate to enable it to carry out its mandate.
Amendments
The constitution of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada may only be amended by a jurisdictional vote whereby two thirds or more of the votes cast are in favour of the amendment. Each constituent jurisdiction represented at the relevant annual meeting is entitled to cast three votes on the amendment.
The Constitution was approved by the delegates on August 12, 2024.