Department of Justice

ALBERTA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENT ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA, July 28, 2000 -- The Honourable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment:

Jack Watson, Q.C. of Edmonton is appointed a judge of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench in Edmonton. He replaces Mr. Justice A.T. Cooke, who has chosen to become a supernumerary judge.

Mr. Justice Watson received his LL.B. from the University of Saskatchewan in 1972 and was called to the Bar of Alberta in 1973. At the time of his appointment, he was Appellate Counsel for the Attorney General of Alberta in Edmonton with responsibility for criminal and constitutional law. Mr. Justice Watson served as a Bencher of the Law Society of Alberta from 1997 until his appointment. He has been a frequent instructor and panellist at numerous professional conferences and programs in his area of expertise. Mr. Justice Watson was a member of the Joint Canadian Bar Association-Law Society of Alberta Committee on Legislation and Law Reform. For the past several years, he has been a sessional lecturer in criminology and sentencing at the Faculty of Law, University of Alberta. He is the author of various Bar Admission Course materials on criminal law, as well as an instructor in that field. Mr. Justice Watson has written prolifically on criminal law topics and, during the past decade, has been an editor and contributor to numerous professional publications. Mr. Justice Watson was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1994.

This appointment is effective immediately.

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Ref.:

Farah Mohamed
Minister's Office
(613) 992-4621