New Judicial Appointment to Court of Appeal for BC

  • December 04, 2023

From the Department of Justice Canada

The Honourable Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, today announced the following appointment under the judicial application process established in 2016. This process emphasizes transparency, merit, and the diversity of the Canadian population, and will continue to ensure the appointment of jurists who meet the highest standards of excellence and integrity.

The Honourable Janet Winteringham, a Judge of the Supreme Court of British Columbia, is appointed a Justice of Appeal of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. Justice Winteringham replaces Justice G.M. Dickson, who elected to become a supernumerary judge effective December 1, 2022.

I wish Justice Winteringham every success as she takes on her new role. I am confident she will serve British Columbians well as a member of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia.

—The Hon. Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Biography

Justice Winteringham was appointed to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in 2017. She attended Simon Fraser University and earned a B.A. in 1987 and a LL.B. from the University of British Columbia in 1991. She was admitted to the Bar of British Columbia in 1992.

At the time of her appointment to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Justice Winteringham practised criminal and constitutional law at Winteringham MacKay Law Corporation. Her litigation practice had started at a medium-sized firm in Vancouver and consisted predominantly of civil litigation matters. She then cultivated a criminal law practice in a small partnership with J.J. McIntyre. Although the focus of her practice was criminal defence, she had regularly acted for the Crown as an ad hoc and special prosecutor. In 2009, Justice Winteringham was appointed King’s Counsel, and in 2014, she was appointed a fellow of the International Society of Barristers.

Justice Winteringham had also served as an adjunct professor at UBC, a frequent lecturer at law conferences, and a discussion leader at the Inns of Court session addressing ethical problems in criminal law. In 2012 and 2013, she travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to assist with the training of judges, prosecutors, police and public defenders, as part of a program developed by the Justice Education Society focusing on the investigation, prosecution and defence of offences relating to gender-based violence.