Two law professors who helped lodge a historic complaint about the conduct of an Alberta judge during a sexual assault trial will discuss the case in Whitehorse this afternoon.

Jennifer Koshan and Alice Woolley, from the University of Calgary Faculty of Law, were part of the group initially responsible for complaining to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) about disgraced former Federal Court Justice Robin Camp.

Camp, known as the “knees together judge”, gained notoriety for comments he made while presiding over a 2014 sexual assault trial as a provincial judge.

Following a review of Camp’s conduct, the CJC recommended that he be removed from the bench. Camp submitted his resignation in March of this year.

Koshan and Woolley will speak at the Westmark Hotel at 4:00 this afternoon to Yukon professionals involved in sexual assault cases. They will discuss the decision to file the complaint and what the Camp inquiry means for Canada’s justice system going forward.

“I think people want to know about it for different reasons,” Crown prosecutor Paul Battin, who helped organize the event, told the Star.

“There was a lot of coverage of the Camp inquiry and what it meant and not just for the prosecution of sex assault but what it meant for the conduct of judges generally.”

In an interview with the Star, the professors said they filed the 11-page complaint with Dalhousie University law professors Elaine Craig and Jocelyn Downie, after learning of Camp’s inappropriate conduct through an article on the appeal of the case.

“I think after having both read the transcripts, we really decided that this was an issue that couldn’t be addressed only by the appeal,” Koshan told the Star.

“It was so egregious and showed such antipathy for the law that a complaint to the judicial council was required.”

While presiding over the trial of Alexander Scott Wagar, accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in a bathroom at a house party in 2011, Camp made several statements that concerned the women.

These included asking the complainant “why couldn’t you just keep your knees together?” and “why didn’t you just sink your bottom down into the basin so he couldn’t penetrate you?”

Camp also referred to the alleged victim, known publicly only as JM due to a publication ban on her name, as “the accused” several times throughout trial.

“I can honestly say I had never seen anything quite like it, and it was one of the most shocking things I have read in my career,” said Woolley.

As a result of Camp’s conduct, in 2015 the Alberta Court of Appeal ordered a new trial in the case. And in January of this year, Wagar, 29, was acquitted a second time on retrial.

Following their inquiry, the CJC found that Camp’s conduct was “so manifestly and profoundly destructive of the concept of impartiality, integrity and independence of the judicial role that public confidence is sufficiently undermined to render the judge incapable of executing the judicial office.”

Woolley said a combination of issues contributed to misconduct in the case. Those included Camp’s own values and a lack of controls for ensuring necessary expertise and training in sexual assault trials.

In February, Rona Ambrose, then the Conservatives’ interim leader, tabled a private member’s bill calling for comprehensive training in sexual assault law as a requirement for future federally appointed judges.

If passed, the bill would also require the judicial council to report on continuing education on the subject. The bill is currently on its second reading in the Senate.

Koshan was a witness at the standing committee hearings where the bill was discussed.

Training is necessary, she said, to prevent judges from making errors of law that are commonly made in sexual assault trials.

“We need to have thoughtful conversations on what we require on the education and training of judges,” she told the Star.

“Sexual assault needs to be addressed because it’s been identified as an area with legal deficits.”

Woolley added that Crown prosecutors also have an important role to play in objecting to inappropriate lines of questioning, calling expert evidence in appropriate cases, and otherwise squelching stereotypes about sexual assault.

“In a lot of sexual assault cases, there are significant issues with defence lawyers engaging in unduly aggressive cross-examination,” she noted.

Battin said while he hasn’t read the bill in its entirety, he thinks ongoing training is a good idea.

“I can’t say that I’ve actually encountered judges that don’t want to know about various areas of law; they often want the lawyers to educate them,” he said.

He noted that lawyers are also currently required to have ongoing legal education.

“It definitely forces you to see what else is out there and keep learning. You can’t just go to law school and never open a book again; it’s just not possible,” he said.

He added that it’s a collective responsibility to discuss what it means to prosecute and defend sexual assault charges.

“I think it’s that understanding about what it’s like to be a sex assault victim and what it’s like to have to ask this person to tell you about a very intimate and unwanted event that they say took place and at the same time test the evidence,” he said.

“Bit by bit, I hope we’re making steps in the right direction.”

And he looks forward to discussing the topic with the law professors.

“I’m hoping that they kind of highlight for us what should we be looking out for in the future, what language should we not be using and just kind of give some insights,” he said.

Woolley and Koshan are equally looking forward to their trip to Whitehorse.

Woolley was formerly a Crown prosecutor in the N.W.T., and said she understands what it’s like to work as a lawyer in the North.

And Koshan is interested in discussing the importance of ongoing education and sensitivity to issues in a cross-cultural context. She noted one issue facing lawyers and judges in remote communities is a lack of resources.

“I think it’s a travesty if resource issues are preventing justice from being carried out,” she said.