News Briefs
Long-term offender status for chronic drunk drivers
As part of a provincial strategy to make roads safer, Justice Minister Dave Hancock
confirmed his department is ready to use the long-term offender and dangerous
offender status for the most serious cases. Where a repeat impaired driver has
been convicted of an offence that has caused death or bodily harm and where it
can be established that communities cannot otherwise be adequately protected from
the offender. The Crown may choose this option.
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RCMP members line street after Galloway funeral. |
Corp. Galloway mourned by hundreds
Almost a thousand people, including many law enforcement officials from across the country, attended the funeral of RCMP Corp. Jim Galloway who died after being shot during an emergency response team call in Stony Plain in March. Alberta Solicitor General Heather Forsyth, speaking on behalf of the provincial government, said his death reminds us of the very real dangers faced by members of the law enforcement community. Jim Galloway was the eighth police or peace officer to die in Alberta since she was appointed Solicitor General only three years ago.
Shelley,
new LERB chair
Donna L. Shelley, Q.C. is the new chair of the Law Enforcement Review
Board (LERB). A former member of the Edmonton Court of Revision and a
current member of the Municipal Government Board of Alberta and the Citizen's
Appeal Panels, Ms. Shelley has adjudicated and heard numerous appeals,
presented to and chaired panels for the Law Society of Alberta and the
Canadian Bar Association and is an instructor in the Bar Admission courses
for the Legal Education Society of Alberta. With over 25 years experience
in corporate commercial law, Ms. Shelley is a partner with McLennan Ross
LLP in Edmonton.
Hancock meets with Supreme Court of Canada justices
Justice Minister Dave Hancock hosted the Supreme Court of Canada Judges’ Annual
Retreat luncheon on May 7 in Edmonton. He took this rare opportunity
to speak with Supreme Court of Canada Madam Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin
along with other Supreme Court of Canada justices and Alberta’s
judiciary from all three levels of court - the Court of Appeal of Alberta,
the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta and the Provincial Court - about
the many challenges facing the judiciary and the justice system such
as the changing needs and increasing demands of the people they serve,
the significance of enhancing access to justice, and the future of Alberta's
justice system.
Paying traffic fines now more convenient
A new web-based fine payment system is making the payment of a traffic
fine a little less painful. Last spring Alberta Justice, Alberta Government
Services, the Alberta Motor Association and the Alberta Registry Agents
Association launched the new website.
In the first three months, 1,730 current fines and 1,073 overdue fines
were paid online for a total of $366,125.17, including service fees
and GST.
