From October 4-6, 2024, legal professionals, scholars, community advocates, students, and formerly incarcerated persons gathered at the Peter A. Allard School of Law for the Canadian Prison Law Conference: Rights, Remedies and Decarceration. Co-hosted by the Canadian Prison Law Association and Allard Law, the conference was a powerful and timely gathering focused on rethinking carceral law and justice in Canada.
Held on the unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) people, the conference created space for critical conversations about prisoners’ rights, decarceration strategies, and the future of prison law and legal education. It marked an important moment of collaboration between people inside and outside of the legal system, bringing together perspectives that are too often left out of mainstream legal discourse.
Over the three-day conference, participants engaged with a wide array of urgent topics, including:
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Indigenous self-determination and Indigenous justice practices
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The legal and ethical implications of life sentences
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Solitary confinement and its evolving forms
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Enforcing human rights in prisons
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Abolitionist legal strategies and decarceral frameworks
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Constitutional rights and the limits of Charter remedies
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Prison law and legal education
The panels were rich in insight and grounded in real-world experience. Speakers included legal practitioners with decades of experience, formerly incarcerated advocates, emerging scholars, and front-line community organizers.
The conference was made possible thanks to the generous support of the Law Foundation of British Columbia and the Peter A. Allard School of Law Research Engagement Fund.
We extend deep appreciation to the organizing committee—Debra Parkes (co-chair), Kate Mitchell (co-chair), Nora Demnati, Nyki Kish, Jennifer Metcalfe, and Reakash Walters—whose leadership brought this important event to life.
canadian prison law association