Full slate on tap for Law Day
Lady Justice might want to remove her blindfold Saturday to catch a glimpse of the bevy of Law Day activities, as the city’s legal community will once again open the doors of the courthouse for a full schedule of events aimed at entertaining and educating.
Andrew MacRae, Law Day organizing committee cochair, said the day will begin by welcoming 50 of the city’s newest Canadians at a citizenship ceremony starting at 10 a.m.
“The justice system can be a very complex and imposing thing for a lot of people and the big value in Law Day is being able to give people the chance to come and see the courthouse, see courtrooms — it’s less intimidating when you know what it is,” said MacRae.
“And it also gives people a chance to look at services available. While they may not need them right now, there might come a time in the future where they do.”
A number of social agencies will be represented at the courthouse and available to provide information to interested parties.
In addition, Law Day will feature four question and answer one-hour seminars with lawyers on legal issues pertaining to family law, wills, civil litigation and criminal law — running in that order and starting at 11 a.m.
But while there is that educational component, Law Day is also about fun.
This year’s children’s trial will feature characters from the movie Despicable Me with the Minions suing Felonius Gru for wrongful dismissal.
And in recognition of the Canadian judicial court system being bilingual, École les Cyprès will be holding its own mock trial featuring its case Regina v. Tisi.
The popular MHPS K-9 demonstration will once again return to Law Day, showing off skills of city police service dogs and their handlers.
A number of other firstresponder organizations, military and Alberta Fish and Wildlife officials will be on hand to provide information on what their respective agencies do.
One of the highlights for out-of-town counsel and judges is the Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench, with Law Day attendees having the opportunity to tour one of Western Canada’s oldest courthouses still in use.
MacRae, who will be acting as tour guide, will be recounting some of the historic court cases held at the building — including the murder trial of four Nazi prisoners of war — as well as the fabled ghost said to haunt the nearly 100year-old building.
But the biggest takeaway will be for individuals to have a chance to familiarize themselves with the court, said MacRae.
“A lot of people — at various times — will have to deal with the justice system and we all have a fundamental right to the presumption of innocence and a fundamental right to be able to access the justice system when we need it,” said MacRae.
“Law Day is a great opportunity for people to learn about those rights and about those services so they become better informed and have a better understanding on how to deal with things.”