2019 Annual Meeting Press Release
ULCC Concludes its 101st Annual Meeting
St. John’s, NL – The Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC), a government supported organization that works to modernize and harmonize federal, provincial and territorial laws and considers proposals to reform criminal laws, held its 101st Annual Meeting in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador from August 18 to 22, 2019. The ULCC is comprised of a Civil Section and a Criminal Section, which celebrated its 75th anniversary this year.
This week, the ULCC’s Civil Section met to continue its work on e-wills and the Uniform Informal Public Appeals Act, including issues respecting crowdfunding. It updated seven Uniform Acts that implement international conventions and adopted in principle a revised Uniform Testamentary Additions to Trusts Act. The Civil Section also received reports respecting implementation of the following international conventions: the UN Convention on Independent Guarantees and Standby Letters of Credit, the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of Securities held with an Intermediary and the Hague Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments.
The ULCC’s Criminal Section debated and voted on proposals to amend the Criminal Code and related statutes. This week, it considered 24 resolutions relating to a wide variety of criminal justice issues, including compelling disclosure of electronic passwords, identity theft, child luring, impaired driving penalties, prosecutions respecting non-disclosure of HIV status, courtroom support for witnesses and the classification of certain offences, such as possessing and uttering counterfeit money. The Criminal Section also received interim reports from working groups regarding telewarrant procedure, the search warrant
regime in section 487 of the Criminal Code and section 490 of the Criminal Code regarding the detention of seized property. The Criminal Section also received a presentation from Iain Hollett, Director of Public Prosecutions for Newfoundland & Labrador, and Pegah Memarpour, Director of Policy and Strategic Planning of the Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Justice and Public Safety, describing the Justice Summits, a province-wide consultation on challenges within the criminal justice system, as well as innovative approaches and collaborative solutions to address these challenges.
At a joint session of the Civil and Criminal Sections, a report on civil remedies for the non-consensual distribution of intimate images was presented and discussed. The working group will continue to review this topic and report back at the next Annual meeting.
Delegates to the ULCC are legal experts appointed by 13 governments (the federal government, all 10 provincial governments and the governments of the Yukon and Nunavut). They include prosecutors, lawyers and notaries from the governments and private practice, members of the judiciary, law professors, the Canadian Bar Association, the Barreau du Québec, the Chambre des notaires du Québec, the Indigenous Bar Association and law reform institutes. Over 70 participants attended this year’s Annual Meeting, including the current and one former president of the United States Uniform Law Commission.
“I would like to thank delegates for travelling to Newfoundland and Labrador to attend the conference and recognize the efforts of the organizers and volunteers who made it possible. These meetings offer an opportunity to exchange ideas and identify ways to move forward in tackling some difficult and important issues. As a government, we are always looking at ways to strengthen policy and the consultation and oversight this conference provides helps to achieve that.”, said the Honourable Andrew Parsons, Minister
of Justice and Public Safety and Attorney General
The ULCC was founded in 1918 and over the years has recommended the implementation of numerous Uniform Acts and other law reform initiatives. Those recommendations have often been enacted into law by federal, provincial and territorial governments.
Media contact:
Lee Kirkpatrick, Immediate Past President of the Uniform Law Conference of Canada
Whitehorse, YT
Tel.: 867-667-5480
Email: lee.kirkpatrick@gov.yk.ca