Court of Appeal for Ontario
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
,
Ontario
Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...
. Paciocco has authored several books on criminal law and is considered one of Canada's foremost experts on the law of
evidence
Evidence for a proposition is what supports the proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the proposition is truth, true. The exact definition and role of evidence vary across different fields. In epistemology, evidence is what J ...
.
Career
Paciocco completed his undergraduate degree at the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO; branded as Western University) is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thame ...
and a master's degree in law from the
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. Paciocco was hired by the
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law
The University of Ottawa Faculty of Law () is the law school at the University of Ottawa, located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Established in 1953, the faculty is today divided into Civil Law and Common Law sections, the two formally recognized l ...
in 1982 and was called to the Ontario bar in 1983. He was a member of the legal team that defended the
Canadian Red Cross
The Canadian Red Cross Society ()tainted blood scandal. From 1994 to 1998, Paciocco was counsel in private practice. Paciocco also later taught at the University of Windsor Faculty of Law. In 1999, he published ''Getting Away With Murder: The Canadian Criminal Justice System'', a book intended for the public about the Canadian criminal justice system. In June 2005, Paciocco was nominated to receive an
Honorary Doctorate
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
from
Laurentian University
Laurentian University (), officially Laurentian University of Sudbury, is a mid-sized Bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public university in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, incorporated on March 28, 1960. Laurentian offers a variety of undergr ...
.
In 2010 a
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division.
...
investigation revealed that since becoming the ombudsman for the Canadian military in 2001 and then Ontario Ombudsman in 2005, André Marin had awarded Paciocco over $250,000 in untendered government contracts. Marin and Paciocco complained about the article to the
Ontario Press Council The Ontario Press Council was a voluntary media adjudication body which investigates complaints about newspapers in Ontario, Canada. On September 1, 2015, it was amalgamated into the newly formed National Newsmedia Council.
History
The council w ...
, which upheld with the complaint, finding the implications to be unfounded.
Judge
In 2011, Paciocco was appointed a judge of the
Ontario Court of Justice
The Ontario Court of Justice is the provincial court court of record, of record for the Canadian province of Ontario. The court sits at more than 200 locations across the province and oversees matters relating to family law, criminal law, and prov ...
for the
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
region. In 2014, Paciocco struck down the Government of Canada's mandatory victim surcharge, finding that it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Ontario prosecutors appealed the decision, but later dropped it after a ruling by Justice Bruce Glass of the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice
The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...
upheld the mandatory victim surcharge. In a later decision, Paciocco said he was bound to follow the higher court's ruling, but in an unusual move, offered detailed criticism of the decision.
In 2015, Paciocco convicted a volunteer firefighter of drunk driving, although he threw out the blood alcohol testing after finding police violated the driver's rights.
On April 7, 2017, Paciocco was elevated to the
Court of Appeal for Ontario
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently mistakenly referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal) (ONCA is the abbreviation for its neutral citation) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Ha ...