The Honourable James Stribopoulos ’94 (Former Osgoode Professor) and Susanne Boucher ’96, ’02 (LLM) Appointed to Superior Court of Justice in Brampton and Toronto, Respectively

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

11-2018

Abstract

News release

November 2, 2018 – Ottawa, Ontario – Department of Justice Canada

The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointments under the new judicial application process introduced on October 20, 2016. The new process emphasizes transparency, merit, and diversity, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

The Honourable James Stribopoulos, a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, is appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton. He replaces Justice D.G. Price, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective July 30, 2018.

Michael T. Doi, a Legal Director with the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, is appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton. He fills a new position created under Bill C-74, the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1.

Erika Chozik, a sole practitioner, is appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Brampton. She fills a new position created under Bill C-74, the Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1.

Susanne Boucher, Senior General Counsel with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, is appointed a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. She replaces Justice A. Harvison Young, who was appointed to the Court of Appeal of Ontario on August 29, 2018.

Biographies

Justice James Stribopoulos earned a B.A. from York University and his LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School. Called to the Ontario Bar in 1996, he briefly practised criminal law before attending Columbia Law School, where he earned an LL.M. and graduated a James Kent Scholar. After a further period in practice, Justice Stribopoulos returned to Columbia, where he obtained his doctorate in law (J.S.D.).

In September 2013, Justice Stribopoulos was appointed a judge of the Ontario Court of Justice, presiding in Brampton. As a judge, he has been active in a variety of case management initiatives. He is also a founding member of the Peel Indigenous Education Committee.

Before being appointed a judge, Justice Stribopoulos was the Associate Dean and an Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. At Osgoode, he taught courses and seminars focused on criminal justice and the litigation process. He was also the Academic Director of the law school’s part-time LL.M. program specializing in criminal law and procedure. Since becoming a judge, Justice Stribopoulos has remained active in legal education. He continues to teach at Osgoode as an adjunct professor. He also helps organize – and regularly gives presentations at – continuing legal education programs for both judges and lawyers, both within Ontario and across Canada.

Justice Stribopoulos has published extensively over the years, with a particular focus on the Charter’s impact on the criminal justice system. More recently, he co-authored Criminal Procedure in Canada, 2nd edition (LexisNexis, 2018), and co-edited To Ensure that Justice is Done: Essays in Memory of Marc Rosenberg (Thomson Reuters, 2017).

Justice Stribopoulos began his legal career articling for John Rosen. He practised criminal law, initially with Fleming, Breen, and eventually as a partner with Kapoor & Stribopoulos. As a trial and appellate lawyer, he appeared before all levels of court.

Justice Michael Doi obtained a B.A. in history and political science from the Royal Military College of Canada, an LL.B. from the University of Windsor, an LL.M. from the University of London (London School of Economics), and a J.D. from the University of Detroit. He was called to the Ontario Bar in 1995.

Prior to his appointment, he served with the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, most recently as Director of the Financial Services Commission Legal Branch. He also served as Deputy Director – Litigation at the Community Safety and Correctional Services Legal Branch, and before that as Counsel with the Constitutional Law Branch. Before joining the Ministry, he practised with a firm in Toronto, and before that served as a military lawyer.

Over the course of his career, he has volunteered with several legal and community organizations including as President of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (Ontario), Chair of the Prosecutors’ Network at the Advocates’ Society, Vice-Chair of the Momiji Health Care Society, and Vice-President of the National Association of Japanese Canadians (Toronto). He also has taught constitutional law at Osgoode Hall Law School and at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law.

He is married to Julia, who is a lawyer. They have two daughters, who keep them young at heart.

Justice Erika Chozik earned a B.A. (with distinction) from the University of Toronto in 1991 and graduated from the Faculty of Law, Queen’s University, in 1995. She was called to the Ontario Bar in 1997. Prior to her appointment, Justice Chozik practised principally in the area of criminal law, as both a Crown counsel and a defence lawyer. While her practice in recent years focused primarily on appellate work, Justice Chozik has appeared in all levels of court.

Throughout her legal career, Justice Chozik has been devoted to helping vulnerable individuals gain access to justice. She has served in numerous leadership roles for different volunteer organizations, most recently as the Vice-Chair of the Pro Bono Inmate Appeal Program. In this role, Justice Chozik has helped many incarcerated and unrepresented individuals pursue their appeals before the Ontario Court of Appeal. She has also volunteered with Pro Bono Ontario’s Education Law Project, representing children who are facing expulsion or suspension from school.

As a young girl, Justice Chozik fled to Canada with her family as a refugee from the former Soviet Union. She is a passionate believer in Canada and everything it offers to new Canadians and the world. While she now makes her home in Toronto, she has also lived in Montreal, Kingston and North Bay.

Outside the practice of law, Justice Chozik is the proud mother of four wonderful children with her husband, Scott.

Justice Susanne Boucher obtained her LL.B. (1996) and LL.M. (2002) from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto. After her call to the Ontario Bar in 1998, she practised for a year as defence counsel before joining the Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC). Justice Boucher’s career with the PPSC involved the full range of criminal practice, including the prosecution of complex drug and Criminal Code cases, and the conduct of appeals in provincial and territorial appellate courts and the Supreme Court of Canada. Justice Boucher worked as counsel with the PPSC in Ontario (1999-2005), in Nunavut (2005-2012), and in the Northwest Territories (2012-2018), where she served as Chief Federal Prosecutor from 2016 to 2018. In 2018, she returned to Toronto after being appointed to the position of Senior General Counsel with the Ontario Regional Office. Justice Boucher’s time in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories provided her with valuable experience working with the Indigenous peoples and communities of the north.

Justice Boucher regularly contributes to educational programs for the legal profession. She teaches yearly at the PPSC’s School for Prosecutors and at Law Society programs on a wide variety of constitutional, substantive, procedural, ethical, and advocacy topics. She is the author of a search and seizure text and several papers published in professional development programs. She has also done significant volunteer work with the Law Societies of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, and served as a Council member for the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, working on professional standards and insurance issues. In the broader community, Justice Boucher is an active volunteer with children’s sports activities, and was the vice president of Tennis NWT. She lives in Toronto with her family.

Quick facts

  • Since taking office, the Minister of Justice has made over 230 judicial appointments, including 100 in 2017 – the most a Minister of Justice has made in one year in at least two decades. Of the individuals appointed, over half are women, eight are Indigenous, 20 identify as visible minorities, 13 identify as LGBTQ2, and three identify as persons with disabilities.

  • The Government of Canada is committed to promoting access to justice for all Canadians. To improve outcomes for Canadian families, Budget 2018 will provide funding of $77.2 million over four years to support the expansion of unified family courts, beginning in 2019-2020. This investment in the family justice system will create 39 new judicial positions in Alberta, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

  • In addition, Budget 2018 provided funding for a further seven judicial positions in Saskatchewan and Ontario, at a cost of $17.1 million over five years.

  • The funding outlined in Budget 2018 comes on top of resources allocated under Budget 2017, which created 28 new judicial positions across the country.

  • In addition, the Government will invest $6 million over two years, beginning in 2018-2019, to support the judicial discipline process through which allegations of judicial misconduct are investigated. In this way, the Government will ensure that a robust process remains in place to allow Canadians to voice their concerns and submit complaints about judicial conduct to the Canadian Judicial Council and the Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs.

  • Federal judicial appointments are made by the Governor General, acting on the advice of the federal Cabinet and recommendations from the Minister of Justice.

  • The Judicial Advisory Committees across Canada play a key role in evaluating judicial applications. There are 17 Judicial Advisory Committees, with each province and territory represented.

  • Significant reforms to the role and structure of the Judicial Advisory Committees, aimed at enhancing the independence and transparency of the process, were announced on October 20, 2016. Sixteen Judicial Advisory Committees have been reconstituted to date.

Contacts

For more information, media may contact:

Célia Canon Communications Advisor Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada 613-862-3270

Media Relations Department of Justice Canada 613-957-4207 media@justice.gc.ca

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