The Crest Affair: Judicial Independence and Yukon’s Supreme Court

Ron Veale,Angela Bailey

doi:10.22584/nr50.2020.011

Abstract

The Yukon’s 1986 “Crest Affair” has entered into local legal lore as a contest about judicial independence. It was that and more. In addition to galvanizing the general public to take note of the Yukon courts as an independent institution, the resulting proceedings before the Law Society of Yukon resolved a live question about the professional obligations of the Yukon Minister of Justice as a member of the bar. As well, the Crest Affair is simply a good story, given that it took place at a time of conflict between the Yukon’s Minister of Justice, the Senior Judge of the Yukon Supreme Court, and the president of the Law Society. In the context of a small jurisdiction with outspoken personalities and robust local media, the Crest Affair led to lively public debate and generated a significant amount of news coverage, some of which is recounted here. ... ... More&nbsp

Highlights

The Yukon’s 1986 “Crest Affair” has entered into local legal lore as a contest about judicial independence
Striking pieces of art with a vivid rendering of the Yukon malamute and the blue, red, and gold shapes representing Yukon’s mountains, rivers, and resources,[3] Senior Judge Harry Maddison ordered that the coat of arms be removed from the Supreme Court courtrooms
The dust-ups between the courts and the Minister continued throughout 1987 and into 1988 and beyond, the Crest Affair did receive its final resolution in July 1988, with formal hearings before the law society’s Committee of Inquiry over two days, and written reasons released by the panel on July 25

Summary

Introduction

The Yukon’s 1986 “Crest Affair” has entered into local legal lore as a contest about judicial independence. There were disagreements about courtroom carpets, clothes hangers, and rosewood furniture; a fight over a “bridge to nowhere”; a fairly unconventional use of court robes; an informal boycott of the government building’s opening; and, pushing the dispute into a different forum, a lawyer’s complaint to the law society alleging the Minister called the Senior Judge of the Supreme Court “silly,” thereby insulting the public and demonstrating disrespect for the administration of justice, contrary to his professional obligations as a lawyer Beyond these colourful facts, the Crest Affair started an important conversation and educated many in the Yukon about the independence of the courts and the role of the judiciary. The Crest Affair became part of this volatile mix in October 1986

The Crest is In the Courtrooms!

The Public Response and a Resolution in the Courthouse

The Law Society Complaint

The Committee of Inquiry

Conclusion