2023 Annual Meeting Press Release
UNIFORM LAW CONFERENCE OF CANADA
CONFÉRENCE POUR L’HARMONISATION DES LOIS AU CANADA
2023 Annual Meeting Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ULCC CONCLUDES ITS 105th ANNUAL MEETING
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, August 2023 – 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 105th annual meeting in Charlottetown, PEI, from August 21 to 25, 2023.
The ULCC is comprised of a Civil Section and a Criminal Section.
This week, the ULCC’s Civil Section approved the Uniform Enforcement of Canadian Judgements Act. Amendments to the Uniform Benevolent and Community Crowdfunding Act were approved in principle. The Section also approved new Drafting Conventions that will guide the preparation of the ULCC’s uniform acts.
The Civil Section received interim reports on projects including Non-disclosure Agreements, Reform of General Partnership Law/Joint Ventures, and Charitable Organizations. It also received a pre-implementation report on the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgements in Civil or Commercial Matters (2019). Additionally, it received a report from Justice Canada on activities in the field of private international law. Also, the United States Uniform Law Commission reported on its projects.
The Criminal Section debated and voted on proposals to reform Canadian criminal law by amending the Criminal Code and related statutes. It considered 35 resolutions on a wide range of criminal justice topics, including the possibility of establishing a working group related to the severity of punishments for murder committed against an intimate partner. Amongst others, the Section adopted resolutions proposing to increase the maximum penalty for voyeurism and non-consensual distribution of intimate images; to have constructive first-degree murder in home invasion cases; and to examine Part XX.1 of the Criminal Code to allow the court to consider the issue of fitness of the accused to stand trial at any stage of the proceedings.
The Section received the final report of the Working Group on the search warrant regime under section 487 of the Criminal Code. It also received progress reports from three working groups regarding section 672.26 of the Criminal Code concerning juries and fitness to stand trial, detention of seized property under section 490 of the Criminal Code, and examination of the treatment of animals in the Criminal Code. A motion was passed to set up a joint working group for criminal and civil legislative recommendations on the treatment of animals.
Finally, both Sections attended the Earl Fruchtman Memorial Seminar, which was a presentation from John Diamond, K.C., the Director of Prosecution from Prince Edward Island on different initiatives of the province, including alternative measures.
At a joint session of the Civil and Criminal Sections, the Diversity and Inclusion Committee presented the results of a demographic survey of ULCC delegates that had been conducted following the 2022 annual meeting.
Delegates to the ULCC are legal experts invited by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments. This year, they included government lawyers, prosecutors, lawyers in private practice, members of the judiciary, law professors, and representatives from the Law Commission of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association, the Barreau du Québec, and Canadian law reform organizations. Approximately 70 participants were in attendance for this year’s annual meeting, including the Immediate Past President of the United States Uniform Law Commission.
The ULCC was founded in 1918 and over the years has recommended the implementation of numerous uniform acts and other law reform proposals. Those recommendations have often been enacted into law by federal, provincial, and territorial governments.
Media contact:
Michelle Lemieux
Executive Director
mlemieux@ulcc-chlc.ca
https://ulcc-chlc.ca