On November 25, 2022, Cheryl Sharvit and Aaron Wilson will present at the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia’s Aboriginal Law Conference. Cheryl and Aaron will discuss the admissibility of oral history evidence and the recent Cowichan Tribes et al. v. Canada (Attorney General) decision wherein Musqueam successfully defended an application seeking a ruling that their witnesses’ oral history evidence was largely inadmissible. They will also talk about the process for hearing oral history evidence at trial, including the implications of hearing oral history in a voir dire. Other subjects they will address include: establishing reliability of oral history evidence; the role of experts; opinion vs oral history; and the admissibility of oral history related to Indigenous legal and social systems.
The CLEBC’S annual Aboriginal Law Conference is for “[l]awyers practicing in the area of Aboriginal law, in private practice, industry, and government,” as well as “others who focus on Aboriginal law… including Indigenous organizations, in-house counsel, and law students.” This year’s conference features leading Aboriginal law practitioners who will discuss current issues and developments in Aboriginal law. Conference topics include: “Challenges and Opportunities in Economic Development, Implementing Indigenous Laws, Jurisdictional Issues and Bill C-92 Updates, Aboriginal Litigation Updates, Legal Decolonizing Initiatives, Efforts to De-colonize the Legal Profession, and Indigenous Self-governance in Action.” Registration information and agenda can be found at the conference website.