Justice Elizabeth Bennett is judge of the

British Columbia Court of Appeal The British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) is the highest appellate court in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1910 following the 1907 Court of Appeal Act. Jurisdiction The ...

. During her term on the

Supreme Court of British Columbia The Supreme Court of British Columbia is the superior trial court for the province of British Columbia, Canada. The Court hears civil and criminal law cases as well as appeals from the Provincial Court of British Columbia. There are 90 judici ...

, she presided over two notable corruption trials.

Early life and career

Bennett was educated at

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a Public university, public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It maintains three campuses in Greater Vancouver, respectively located in Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, British Columbia, Surrey, and ...

and the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

Law School. She served with the

Canadian Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

Primary Reserves
6th Field Engineer Squadron
She was named a

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1994 and appointed to the Supreme Court of BC in 1997. She was appointed to the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada on June 23, 1999.

Casinogate

On August 29, 2002, she acquitted former

premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

Glen Clark Glen David Clark (born November 22, 1957) is a Canadian retail executive and former politician who served as the 31st premier of British Columbia from 1996 to 1999. Early life and education Clark attended independent Roman Catholic schools, na ...

of all criminal charges related to home renovations and other personal benefits received from a constituent, Dimitrios Pilarinos, who was applying for a casino license. The judge said Clark exercised poor judgment but ruled that "there is nothing in his conduct that crosses the line from an act of folly to behaviour calling for criminal sanctions." The ruling came five years and a day after her appointment to the Supreme Court on August 28, 1997. The "Casinogate" scandal came to public attention when news media filmed the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) conducting a search warrant inside the private home of the then-Premier.

Graham extradition

In 2004, Bennett ruled that John Graham could be extradited to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for trial for the 1975 murder of Anna Mae Aquash, one of the most prominent members of the

American Indian Movement The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an Native Americans in the United States, American Indian grassroots movement which was founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1968, initially centered in urban areas in order to address systemic issues ...

BC Rail corruption trial

In 2007, she began proceedings on the Basi-Virk Affair where the minister of finance's politically appointed assistant was charged with the sale of benefits related to the province's sale of

BC Rail The British Columbia Railway Company , commonly known as BC Rail, is a railway in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Chartered as a private company in 1912 as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE), it was acquired by the provincial ...

, the publicly owned railway. The scandal came to public attention when news media filmed the RCMP conducting a

search warrant A search warrant is a court order that a magistrate or judge issues to authorize Police, law enforcement officers to conduct a Search and seizure, search of a person, location, or vehicle for evidence of a crime and to Confiscation, confiscate an ...

inside the

BC Legislature The Legislature of British Columbia is made of two elements: the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, lieutenant governor (representing the King of Canada), and the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia (which meets at the British Columbi ...

building. The trial is ongoing. On May 15, 2009, she was appointed by federal justice minister and attorney-general

Rob Nicholson Robert Douglas Nicholson (born April 29, 1952) is a Canadian politician who represented the riding of Niagara Falls in the House of Commons of Canada from 2004 to 2019 as a member of the Conservative Party. Under Prime Minister Stephen Harpe ...

to the

, elevating her from the BC Supreme Court. She remained on the Basi-Virk case still in Supreme Court, presiding over the pre-trial hearings until replaced by Anne MacKenzie. Special Prosecutor Bill Berardino said her appointment will not affect the timing of the case, nor slow it down further.

Publications

Justice Bennett co-authored the 2006 revisions for a guide for judges on giving instructions to the jury, the ''Canadian Criminal Jury Instructions (CRIMJI)''''Canadian Criminal Jury Instructions (CRIMJI)'' — Fourth Edition
.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Elizabeth (Judge) Canadian women judges Judges in British Columbia Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Lawyers in British Columbia Canadian King's Counsel Peter A. Allard School of Law alumni Judges of the Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada