Aleem Bharmal, K.C. has been appointed President of the Canadian Bar Association, British Columbia Branch (Canada). Bharmal is a human rights lawyer with Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), where he practised law for almost 20 years and served as executive director from 2008 to 2019. Before joining CLAS, he was an associate at Miller Thomson LLP in Toronto.
Earlier in his career, he worked as a human rights officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In this role, he assisted in reporting on the administration of justice and ongoing human rights violations in Rwanda. (More at Canadian Lawyer).
The new president said will be pushing for more access to justice and increased legal aid funding over the course of his term in office, which will run alongside anticipated major changes to the governance of lawyers in the province.
Aleem Bharmal steps into this position of leadership during a time marked by transformation and modernization, both within the legal profession and the justice system. With the COVID-19 pandemic exposing and exacerbating disparities in the system, Bharmal said now is the time to improve access to justice for all communities and citizens in the province.
Articles of Interest:
https://www.cbabc.org/About-Us/Governance/Board-of-Directors/Bio/President
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