| Abstrakt: |
This article argues that law societies play a role in causing wrongful convictions in Canada and suggests possibilities for reform to ensure that law societies prevent wrongful convictions rather than perpetuate them. A lawyer's lack of cultural competence can lead to an increased risk of wrongful conviction for Indigenous peoples. Yet, law societies are mostly silent on cultural competence in their rules of professional conduct. Moreover, the overly discretionary disciplinary processes of Canadian law societies have created a system of impunity for lawyers who engage in professional misconduct. The inadequacies of these disciplinary processes will be illustrated through a close examination of a Crown disclosure scandal in Alberta and Clayton Boucher's wrongful conviction. Ultimately, if law societies fail to guard against this problem, a question forms: are law societies self-regulating in the public interest or in the interests of their members? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
