The Ontario Justice Education Network (OJEN) and Laurentian University co-sponsored the 2003 Summer Law Institute for secondary school teachers in Sudbury held at Marymount Academy recently. Madam Justice Patricia Hennessy, Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario, (above photo at podium), provided the opening remarks for the sessions which focused on the criminal justice system, family law, native/aboriginal law issues, and labour law.

The Summer Law Institute Program was designed to support legal education in Ontario secondary schools by providing secondary school teachers with up-to-date information on the justice system. These symposiums bring together teachers, judges, lawyers and law school faculty for a free-flowing and candid exchange. Secondary school teachers from both the Sudbury Catholic and Rainbow District School Boards were given the opportunity to review key justice issues with the province’s top judges. The symposium also enabled teachers to establish contacts that would become a valuable resource to them in their efforts to teach legal studies in a way that is relevant and meaningful to students.