Today, Nova Scotia chief justice Michael MacDonald announced the formation of a review committee that will further investigate complaints filed against provincial court Judge Gregory Lenehan.
Avalon is interested in systemic outcomes that improve women’s equality and remain supportive of the principles of both judicial accountability and judicial independence. We believe that judges have an important role to play in keeping discriminatory stereotypes about sexual assault out of the courtroom, both in judicial decision-making and judicial conduct. It is good to see that the Chief Judge has taken the complaints he has received seriously and that a Review Committee will have the opportunity to address these concerns. It is vital that sexual assault complainants can have confidence that they can come to the justice system and expect to be treated fairly and with dignity.
While Avalon is not involved in the complaint process before the Judicial Council, We are proud to be intervening in the appeal of the Al-Rawi verdict along with LEAF in order to bring a feminist analysis before the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal on the important issues of consent and capacity in sexual assault cases