Prof. Steven Penney’s earns LSA/CBA Award

Professor Steven Penney is the 2021 recipient of the Law Society of Alberta / Canadian Bar Association Award for Distinguished Service in Legal Scholarship.

LSA/CBA awards recognize outstanding members of Alberta’s legal community for their service.

The LSA/CBA noted that Supreme Court Justice Russell Brown names Penney “among two or three (of the) most prolific criminal law scholars in Canada.” It also emphasized his unfailing generosity in contributing his time and expertise to the legal profession.

“Steven’s writing has had a significant impact on jurisprudence, having been cited at courts across Canada, including the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in R v Burlingham on the right to counsel under section 10 (b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Those who know Steven also remark upon his insight and ability to analyze and write about complex areas of law that impact Canadians now, and will do so in the future.”

In addition to researching, teaching and consulting in the areas of criminal procedure, evidence, substantive criminal law, privacy, and law and technology, Penney is co-author of Criminal Procedure in Canada, now in its second edition and recognized as a leading authoritative source on the topic. He is co-editor of Evidence: A Canadian Casebook and is a member of the advisory boards of the Alberta Law Review and Canadian Journal of Law & Justice.

Penney, ‘94 LLB, joined the Faculty in 2006. He holds a master of laws from Harvard Law School; was Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario; Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of New Brunswick; and law clerk to Mr. Justice Gérard V. La Forest of the Supreme Court of Canada.

“It is a tremendous privilege as a law professor to be free to critique and propose reforms to the law as an independent thinker, unencumbered by the mandates of clients, governments, or the intellectual orthodoxies of the moment,” says Penney.

“I am very grateful to the many members of the bar and bench, in Alberta and elsewhere, who have enriched my understanding of the law and justice system over the years.”