OTTAWA, Sept. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Foundation for Legal Research is pleased to announce that four practising Crown and defence barristers share first place as co-recipients of the 2021 Walter Owen Book Prize [English language], for authorship of Search and Seizure (Emond Montgomery Publications Limited). Winners will share $15,000 from the Foundation, which is dedicated to funding and recognizing exceptional legal scholarship in Canada.
Co-recipients include Nader Hasan, privately practising barrister; Mabel Lai, Ontario Crown counsel; David Schermbrucker, federal Crown counsel; and Randy Schwartz, Director, Ontario Crown Law Office—Criminal.
A prestigious Jury appointed by the Foundation recommended prize recipients from a list of 27 book nominees after four months of deliberations. All selections made by the Jury were unanimous, including those made by Arthur L. Close, Q.C., Member Emeritus, British Columbia Law Institute, who served on the Jury until his passing in June 2021.
On behalf of the Jury, David C. Day, Q.C., barrister and Supreme Court Master, remarked that Search and Seizure, of which he was principal reviewer, “contributes to Canadian legal literature as the currently definitive concise work on its subject.”
Professor Carissima Mathen of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law earns second place prize for Courts Without Cases: The Law and Politics of Advisory Opinions (Hart Publishing). John S. Tyhurst, Visiting Professor at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, receives third place for Canadian Competition Law and Policy (Irwin Law Inc.).
Two books received honorable mentions: Reinventing Bankruptcy Law: A History of the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (University of Toronto Press), by Victoria Torrie; and The Justice Crisis: The Cost and Value of Accessing Law (UBC Press), edited by Trevor C.W. Farrow and Lesley A. Jacobs.
The Walter Owen Book Prize honours its namesake (1904–1981) who privately practised law for 40 years, served as President of the Canadian Bar Association and, in 1959, became the Foundation’s first President.
For additional information about the Walter Owen Book Prize and The Canadian Foundation for Legal Research, please visit www.cflr-fcrj.ca.
Media contact:
Michelle J. Ouellette, Q.C., Chair
McKercher LLP Barristers & Solicitors
374 Third Avenue South, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1M5
Phone: (306) 664-1344 | email: m.ouellette@mckercher.ca
