CIAJ was created in 1974 at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in Toronto, by then Associate Dean Stephen Borins and Dean Harry Arthurs, with the help of a $225,000 grant from the Donner Foundation. Then Professors Allen M. Linden and Sidney J. Lederman became respectively first Director and Associate Director of CIAJ. Independent, but university-housed, the non-profit organization would function as the educational, planning and research arm of the courts and administrative tribunals throughout Canada. Multi-disciplinary in scope, under the patronage of members of the judiciary, the legal profession, governments and members of the public, however free from political constraints, it would be able to undertake and to promote projects upon consideration of their respective intrinsic merits. In response to then Dean Frank D. Jones’ invitation, CIAJ’s offices moved to the Faculty of Law of the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1978 and remained there until 1986. Then, in response to a generous initiative by the Faculty of Law of the Université de Montréal, CIAJ moved its offices to this university where it is still housed today.

The year 1999 marked CIAJ’s 25^th anniversary. The Board of Directors took the opportunity of this milestone to update CIAJ’s mandate. The administration of justice is viewed as a public service. Strategically placed to identify emerging needs, and to promote research and educational endeavours likely to improve the administration of justice, the CIAJ takes a multi-disciplinary approach in identifying and addressing leading-edge issues.

In 2014, after 40 years of existence, CIAJ reviewed its statutes, renewed its visual identity, made its first step in social media and adopted a new strategic plan.

The new objectives of the organization are as follows:

• -To be an umbrella organization which brings together, and encourages exchanges among, individuals and groups concerned with administration of justice issues;
• -Develop and conduct directly or by co-operation or consultation with others, research programs with regard to the administration of justice in Canada;
• -Acquire and assist in the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge regarding to the administration of justice in Canada;
• -Advance education by providing publicly available scholarships, bursaries, fellowships, expense reimbursements and other forms of financial assistance to eligible scholars and other persons to be used for the advancement of the administration of justice;
• -Provide for the development and management of programs to assist in training members of the judiciary and administrative agencies, as well as all those who are involved in any way in the administration of justice.

CIAJ is an organization which links individuals and institutions involved in the administration of justice. Its work is multi-disciplinary and wide-ranging. Collaborating with governments, professional associations, law schools, practising lawyers and members of the public, it sponsors and conducts conferences and specialized seminars and prepares comprehensive background papers.

CIAJ’s programs include:

• -Annual conferences on forward-looking topics;
• -Conferences on legal drafting;
• -National and regional seminars on administrative law;
• -Seminars on judgment writing;
• -Seminars for newly appointed judges and for long-serving judges;
• -An annual fellowship that supports research on ways to improve the administration of justice in Canada.

How they work

Programs and activities are carried out by committees whose volunteer members are leaders in their professions. They bring issues to the forefront with a view to advancing the administration of justice.