New B.C. judges appointed: J. Christopher Grauer and Peter Edelmann

Two new judges have been named: J. Christopher Grauer has been appointed to the British Columbia Court of Appeal, while Peter Edelmann has been appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, both effective as of Dec. 20, 2019.

In a news release from Department of Justice Canada, Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti announced the appointments, which were made under the judicial application process enacted in 2016, aiming to promote independence, transparency, diversity and merit.

Justice Grauer was formerly a judge of the B.C. Supreme Court

Grauer has replaced Justice J.E.D. Savage, who had been assigned to Vancouver before his resignation effective Sept. 1, 2019. Grauer was previously a judge of the B.C. Supreme Court, having been appointed to the post on April 11, 2008.

Grauer received his JD degree from the University of Toronto and was called to the B.C. bar in 1981. He has worked as a law clerk to the Chief Justice of B.C. and as a lawyer for the Vancouver-based firm Bull Housser & Tupper. He then co-founded boutique law firm Dives Grauer & Harper, which focuses its practice on civil litigation, professional liability and health law.

Grauer has taught for the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia, the Canadian Bar Association and the Canadian Institute of the Administration of Justice. He also regularly devotes his efforts to the annual B.C. Law Schools Moot Competition, as well as the Peter A. Allard Faculty of Law advocacy program.

Justice Edelmann was founding partner of Edelmann & Co.

Edelmann has replaced Justice Joyce DeWitt-Van Oosten, who was assigned to Vancouver before being elevated to the B.C. Court of Appeal on May 2, 2019.

Edelmann received his LLB and civil law degrees from McGill University, and was called to the B.C. bar in 2005. After working as a sole practitioner for some time, he became a founding partner of Edelmann & Co., a Vancouver-based firm focusing on immigration and refugee law.

Edelmann has extensive experience in litigation and appeals involving immigration and refugee law, extradition and criminal defence. He has appeared before all levels of federal and provincial courts, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board and parliamentary committees.

Edelmann is a member of the national immigration section of the Canadian Bar Association and of the litigation committees of both the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and the Canadian Council for Refugees.

Edelmann has taught for the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s Computer Forensics program and for the University of British Columbia Certificate in Immigration: Laws, Policies and Procedures program.