14 Oct 2026 · 26 minNew
The pith and substance of Alberta’s referendum questions
Legal scholars are finding the questions hard to parse. How will voters manage?
Podcast · Learning
Verdicts & Voices
by Canadian Bar Association · English · Learning
Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.
- New episodes
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 22 min
- Latest
- 14 Oct 2026
- Language
- English
Latest episode
Earlier episodes 29 most recent
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S5 · E3 · 7 Oct 2026 · 22 min
Supreme Court fall preview
Highlights of the Supreme Court’s fall docket with Nadia Effendi, court-watcher extraordinaire
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S5 · E2 · 23 Sep 2026 · 20 min
A remedy for people who can afford it?
Three family lawyers discuss how the new tort of intimate-partner violence is working in practice.
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S5 · E1 · 16 Sep 2026 · 19 min
Kudos to the humans
University of Ottawa law professor Amy Salyzyn on the evolving use and misuse of AI in the courts
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S4 · E17 · 22 Jun 2026 · 26 min
Indigenous practice in Canadian courts (from the archives)
Two provincial chief justices on how they’re making their courts more inclusive of Indigenous law, culture and people
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S4 · E16 · 10 Jun 2026 · 24 min
Approaching the bar
How do today’s law students view justice, the rule of law, and the legal profession in Canada?
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S4 · E15 · 3 Jun 2026 · 23 min
“I thought she was nuts when she said I’d be a judge.”
Harvey Brownstone, Canada’s first openly gay judge, recounts his cinematic life.
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S4 · E14 · 21 May 2026 · 20 min
A turning point for a tort of family violence
Shelley Hounsell and Vanessa Lam break down why the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to create a new tort of family violence is so significant.
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S4 · E13 · 13 May 2026 · 22 min
Nunavut’s Gladue dilemma
Where systemic discrimination affects the whole community, how should it factor into criminal sentencing?
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S4 · E12 · 6 May 2026 · 15 min
“A landmark decision for the independence of the bar”
Connor Bildfell finds the silver lining in a court ruling that upholds controversial changes to the regulation of lawyers in BC.
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S4 · E11 · 29 Apr 2026 · 23 min
When courts get vexed
How should Canadian courts deal with vexatious or abusive litigation?
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S4 · E9 · 8 Apr 2026 · 23 min
The badge of good character
How do law societies enforce “good character” requirements for members of the bar?
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S4 · E8 · 25 Mar 2026 · 23 min
Will the Protecting Victims Act do just that?
A discussion about the pros and cons of Bill C-16, the Protecting Victims Act
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S4 · E7 · 18 Mar 2026 · 20 min
Quebec’s secularism law gets its day in court
A preview of upcoming Supreme Court hearings about Quebec’s secularism law and the notwithstanding clause
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S4 · E6 · 11 Mar 2026 · 17 min
A lightning rod and a symbol of courage (from the archives)
Corinne Sparks of Nova Scotia was Canada’s first black woman judge. She was also the object of a racial bias complaint that reached the Supreme Court and stunted her career.
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S4 · E5 · 4 Mar 2026 · 20 min
Jordan turns ten
A decade ago, the Supreme Court issued its landmark Jordan decision with the goal of speeding up Canadian court proceedings. Has it worked?
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S4 · E4 · 18 Feb 2026 · 20 min
From law to order
Two former police officers discuss their transition to the practice of law.
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S4 · E3 · 11 Feb 2026 · 22 min
Motion to intervene
One case, two judges, two completely different decisions on a motion to intervene.
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S4 · E2 · 4 Feb 2026 · 29 min
Who needs international law?
Canadian international law experts Gib van Ert and Joanna Harrington argue international law is real and necessary, whether it’s followed or not.
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S4 · E1 · 28 Jan 2026 · 24 min
Supreme Court preview with Nadia Effendi
New year, new Supreme Court lookahead with court watcher Nadia Effendi.
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S3 · E12 · 17 Dec 2025 · 23 min
Season’s Readings!
We’ve assembled some of Canada’s top legal minds… to give you book recommendations for the holidays.
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S3 · E11 · 10 Dec 2025 · 22 min
Plain language (or, Eschewing unnecessary obfuscation in juridical discourse)
Why can’t lawyers and judges just say what they mean? Karen Jacques and Paul Aterman argue that complicated legalese impedes access to justice and diminishes trust in the justice system.
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S3 · E10 · 3 Dec 2025 · 22 min
“So fundamentally wrong”: Alexandre Forest and Stéphane Beaulac on Quebec’s constitution bill
According to Premier François Legault, his government’s new proposed provincial constitution is a landmark document that will “affirm Quebec’s distinct national character.” But many commentators view it as a threat to Quebecers’ rights. The CBA-Quebec’s Alexandre Forest and Montreal law professor Stéphane Beaulac explain why – and what they’re doing about it.
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S3 · E9 · 26 Nov 2025 · 19 min
Expanding notwithstanding rebranding? (from the archives)
Once considered an extreme measure, the Canadian Charter’s notwithstanding clause has been invoked more often lately by provincial governments, and federal politicians have been musing about it too. In this episode, which first aired in January 2025, Marion Sandilands and Geoffrey Sigalet debate the pros and cons.
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S3 · E8 · 20 Nov 2025 · 20 min
Bye-bye to the bar exam? Jennifer Pink and Jordan Furlong
Is the bar exam the best way of ensuring the readiness of new lawyers? Jennifer Pink of the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society and legal analyst Jordan Furlong discuss why several provinces and territories have already ditched it, and what they’re replacing it with.
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S3 · E7 · 12 Nov 2025 · 18 min
A chat with Margaret Satterthwaite, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers
How can we recognize and address threats to the rule of law? And how can lawyers persuade the public that judicial independence is everyone’s concern? UN Special Rapporteur Margaret Satterthwaite has some ideas.
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S3 · E6 · 5 Nov 2025 · 19 min
Artificial intelligence, genuine bias: law professors Gideon Christian and Jake Effoduh
How do we tap the vast potential of artificial intelligence systems without exacerbating biases inherent in the data they train on? According to law professors Dr. Gideon Christian and Jake Effoduh, the answer begins with listening to AI experts from impacted communities.
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S3 · E5 · 29 Oct 2025 · 22 min
Do we need a bail bill? Melanie Webb and Daniel Lerner react to Bill C-14
Criminal lawyers Melanie Webb and Daniel Lerner take on some of the key questions raised by Ottawa’s new bail and sentencing legislation: Do reverse onuses matter? Will the new bill aggravate court delays? And why is stealing from Walmart worse than stealing a stranger’s purse?
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S3 · E4 · 15 Oct 2025 · 32 min
The sisterhood of “gender sellouts” in criminal law: Anita Szigeti, Hamna Anwar and Kyla Lee
Three criminal defence lawyers discuss the obstacles they’ve faced as women in their field, and the community they’ve built to overcome them.
About Verdicts & Voices
Verdicts & Voices is a legal current affairs podcast presented by the Canadian Bar Association. With her retinue of expert guests, host Alison Crawford keeps listeners up to date on news, views, and stories about the law and the justice system in Canada.
Verdicts & Voices is a English learning podcast from Canadian Bar Association. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
- Publisher
- Canadian Bar Association
- Language
- English
- Category
- Learning
- New episodes
- Weekly
- Typical length
- 22 min
- Latest episode
- 14 Oct 2026
- Feed
- RSS — paste into any podcast app
- Apple Podcasts
- podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1586988098
- Rights
- 2024-2026 Canadian Bar Association
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