UBC law professor withdraws complaint against B.C. judge
A UBC law professor who filed a formal complaint against B.C. Supreme Court Justice Peter Leask over remarks the judge made at the start of a Kamloops sexual assault trial has withdrawn his complaint and apologized to Leask.
Benjamin Perrin withdrew his complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council on Tuesday after The Province published a column by editorial pages editor Gordon Clark that demonstrated that news reports upon which Perrin based his complaint contained errors and mischaracterized Leask’s comments.
Clark came to his conclusions after obtaining the transcript of the March 20 court proceedings and was critical of Perrin for not doing the same before accusing Leask of misconduct and for laying the complaint when he wasn’t involved in the case, which involved allegations of sexual assault by a man on his stepdaughter 40 years ago.
“I made a complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council on March 23, 2017, concerning Justice Leask’s remarks during a sexual assault trial over which he presided,” Perrin wrote in a letter to The Province. “I considered at the time that there were proper grounds for the complaint and I made public statements to that effect.”
“I have since learned the full context for the remarks and concluded that they do not support the claims I made in the complaint or my public statements,” Perrin wrote. “I have therefore formally withdrawn my complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council in its entirety.”
“I wish to offer my full and unreserved apology to Justice Leask. I regret both the issuing of the complaint and the public comments I made at the time.”
A Kamloops This Week article, and subsequent stories by other media, left the impression Leask was trying to rush the trial so he could get back to his home in Vancouver because “I like sleeping in my own bed.”
But Clark argued the transcript showed “Leask having routine discussions ... not telling anyone how to proceed, but simply spelling out options and clarifying legal issues that had emerged from the preliminary hearing.”
Far from being insensitive to the complainant or sexual assault, the basis of the complaint, Clark wrote “the transcript reveals Leask as being gentle with the complainant.”
The Crown stayed the proceedings on the second day of the trial, saying the evidence no longer met the charge-approval standard that there was a substantial likelihood of conviction.
The victim in the trial also said she intended to lay a complaint, but it is not known if that occurred or whether her complaint is still proceeding.
Perrin’s academic work, according to his UBC webpage, is focused on how victims of crime are treated by the justice system. His book, Victim Law: The Law of Victims of Crime in Canada, was recently published.
Perrin was a legal adviser in the office of former prime minister Stephen Harper during the payment scandal involving Sen. Mike Duffy. He testified at Duffy’s trial that he believed Harper had approved the plan for former chief of staff Nigel Wright to pay back $90,000 of Duffy’s allegedly improper living expenses that had been charged to taxpayers.