Law And Society: Forever Evolving

Canadian judges are going back to school, or at least, that's what it feels like. Judges must "understand the people they are judging" says Justice Adele Kent, head of the National Judicial Institute. That is the primary goal of "social context" education, which is cited in a federal bill now before the Senate.

Questions about what education should be mandatory for judges about certain issues, such as gender-based violence and sexual assault law were front and center at a human trafficking conference, which had about 45 judges attend.

Judges were shown videos of real cases, filmed with actors, with the script taken verbatim from transcripts in order to educate judges about human trafficking, domestic violence and why a victim may not leave an abusive partner, may not call the police and may have an emotional connection to their abuser.