Judicial appointments announced in B.C. courts and in Alberta Provincial Court

Judges have received new appointments in the Court of Appeal for British Columbia, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and in the Provincial Court of Alberta

Peter Voith, Ian Caldwell and Jasmin Ahmad have been appointed to B.C. courts

Peter G. Voith joins the B.C. Court of Appeal as justice of appeal. Voith takes the place of Justice B.L. Fisher in Vancouver, who elected to become a supernumerary Judge effective Jan. 2. Voith was a judge at the B.C. Supreme Court. He co-founded Hunter Litigation Chambers. He has worked at Hunter Voith, at Davis & Company and at Ladner Downs. He focused his practice on civil law and administrative law.

Called to the B.C. bar in 1981 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2004, Voith holds a Bachelor of Laws from the University of British Columbia, as well as Master of Laws degrees from Columbia University and from the University of Cambridge. He has served on the Law Society of British Columbia’s ethics and discipline committees.

Ian Caldwell is now a judge of the B.C. Supreme Court. Caldwell replaces Justice G.T.W. Bowden in Vancouver, who resigned effective Oct. 1, 2019. Caldwell served as a master of the B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster. He has practised in Kowarsky & Company in Vancouver and in Rempel Kaye, later Kaye, Toews and Caldwell.

Admitted to the B.C. bar in 1985, Caldwell earned his LLB from the University of British Columbia. He has served as a governor of the Law Foundation of B.C. and as a member of the Chilliwack and Fraser Valley Bar Associations and of numerous Canadian Bar Association subsections. He was honoured with a Trial Lawyers of B.C. Bench Award in 2015.

Jasmin Ahmad is a new judge at the B.C. Supreme Court. She takes the place of Justice J.C. Grauer in Vancouver, who was elevated to the Court of Appeal effective Dec. 18, 2019. Ahmad has acted as litigation counsel in Koffman Kalef LLP in Vancouver. A Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, she has sat in the hearing panel of the Law Society of British Columbia and in the arbitration panel of the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre.

Called to the B.C. bar in 1995 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019, Ahmad graduated with an LLB from the University of Victoria. She has served as an elected Bencher of the Law Society and as chairperson of the discipline committee and of the equity, diversity and inclusion advisory committee. She has been involved with the Women’s Law Forum Mentoring program of the CBA in B.C.

Aran Veylan and Sylvia Oishi join the Provincial Court of Alberta, effective Sept. 9

Aran Veylan has been appointed as assistant chief judge for the family and youth division in Edmonton. Since 2012, Veylan has served as a judge at the Alberta Provincial Court. He has also acted as senior litigation counsel at Cleall Barristers Solicitors in Edmonton. Admitted to the bar in 1981, he earned his law degree from the University of Alberta.

Sylvia L. Oishi is now an assistant chief judge for the southern region. Since 2008, Oishi has acted as a judge at the Alberta Provincial Court. She has served as Crown prosecutor and as partner with the Jervis Oishi Law Office. Called to the bar in 1986, she graduated from the law school at the University of Alberta.