National human rights group calls for changes to how Manitoba screens law students

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is calling on the Law Society of Manitoba to change how it screens upcoming lawyers, saying the existing process creates unnecessary barriers for Black, Indigenous and marginalized law students. 

The national human rights group wrote a letter to the society on Tuesday, asking it to conduct a review and change its current "good character" process, which requires applicants to disclose details and documents related to all their convictions, charges and disciplinary actions. 

"Its disclosure requirements are a fishing expedition that is unnecessary and harmful and violates not only the law society's own purpose and commitment to truth and reconciliation, equity and diversity … it violates fundamental rights," said Noa Mendelsohn Aviv, equality director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. 

Mendelsohn Aviv said the requirements are ineffective at determining good character and they're an intrusion of privacy. They also deter members of marginalized groups from joining the legal profession, she said. 

In the letter to the society, the CCLA asked the law society to remove the need for applicants to disclose:

• Charges, complaints or allegations.

• Convictions for which a pardon or record suspension has been granted.

• Offences for which an absolute discharge was granted over one year ago, or a conditional discharge was granted three years ago.

• Convictions for minor offences.

• Convictions for anything that's no longer an offence, like cannabis possession.

• Any activity or allegation that is not serious or relevant to the practice of law or public's interest in the delivery of legal services.

In an email statement to CBC, the Law Society of Manitoba said it plans to consider the request carefully. 

"The law society is committed to the principles of equity and diversity and we share the view that there is a need for greater diversity within the legal profession," the statement said. 

The society says it's committed to truth and reconciliation and has set up an Indigenous advisory committee, chaired by former senator Murray Sinclair. It says it welcomes the opportunities to reflect on its policies and find better ways to do things. 

Letter endorsed by national Indigenous law association 

Alyson Bear, a representative of the Indigenous Bar Association, said the good character requirements add to already existing barriers that Indigenous people face when entering the legal profession.

"Indigenous people are under-represented in the legal profession but over-represented in the criminal justice system," she said. 

"That indicates the racial profiling that continues to happen — as a youth and then these things follow us. They follow us into our future and they make it harder for us to succeed and therefore, these issues need to be addressed," said Bear. 

The IBA endorses the letter written by the CCLA. Bear said the IBA has also brought up this issue with the law societies in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

According to a report conducted by the Law Society of Manitoba in 2019, only 13 per cent of articling students and new lawyers in Manitoba are visible minorities and six per cent are Indigenous. Meanwhile, data from the 2016 census states 17.5 per cent of Manitoba's population are from visible minorities and 18.2 per cent are Indigenous.

"It's so important to have Indigenous lawyers representing Indigenous peoples," Bear said. "We're here to help each other." 

Academic study found requirements ineffective 

The letter points to studies conducted by Justice Alice Woolley prior to her appointment to the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. 

In 2007, Woolley conducted a review of all published decisions related to the "good character" process in Canada. She found a key factor determining whether an applicant will be admitted to the law society depends on whether they admit the misconduct. 

According to the study, applicants who repented their wrongdoing were admitted despite committing serious misconduct, such as bribing a public official and sexual assault. By contrast, applicants who didn't fully acknowledge their misconduct were denied admission, even if their offences were considered minor, like impaired driving. 

As a result, Woolley proposed Canadian law societies abandon the good character process completely. 

Mendelsohn Aviv said the so-called good character process has been debated nationally for several years.

"This process doesn't do what it's supposed to do, it is ineffective and unnecessary," she said.