BRITISH COLUMBIA JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

OTTAWA , May 20, 2005 – Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments:

Nathan H. Smith, Q.C ., of Vancouver , is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He will be assigned to Vancouver by the Chief Justice.

Mr. Justice Smith received a Bachelor of Arts in 1972 and a Bachelor of Laws in 1981, both from the University of British Columbia . He was admitted to the British Columbia Bar in 1982 and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Justice Smith was in private practice. He is a member of the Attorney General’s Rules Revision Committee, the current Governor and past president of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia. He is a frequent lecturer and the author of several legal publications.

Joel R. Groves, of Vancouver is appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. He will be assigned to Vancouver by the Chief Justice.

Mr. Justice Groves received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Victoria in 1981 and a Bachelor of laws from the University of British Columbia in 1984. He was admitted to the British Columbia Bar in 1985.

Since 2000, Mr. Justice Groves has been a Master of the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Prior to that he was a partner with the firm Gillespie Rekema Barnett Broadway, where he practised in the areas of family law and general litigation.

In the past, he has been a member of the Advisory Board of CCH Canadian Family Law Guide. He is a past member and president of the Kamloops Bar Association and a frequent lecturer.

These appointments are effective immediately.

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Ref.:

François Giroux
Judicial Affairs Advisor
Office of the Minister of Justice
(613) 992-4621