Governance

Gib van Ert practices civil litigation and public law with Olthuis van Ert in Ottawa and Vancouver. From 2015 to 2018 he was the Executive Legal Officer to two successive chief justices of Canada, the Rt Hon Beverley McLachlin PC and the Rt Hon Richard Wagner PC. The Executive Legal Officer is the chief justice’s principal advisor in matters concerning the administration of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Canadian Judicial Council and the National Judicial Institute.

Prior to that Gib had a broad civil litigation practice in Vancouver. He is the author of Using International Law in Canadian Courts and other works on the reception of international law in Canada. He is an annual contributor to the Canadian Yearbook of International Law. He served as law clerk to Justices Charles Gonthier and Morris Fish of the Supreme Court of Canada and Madam Justice Joanne Prowse of the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. Gib has a B.A. (Hons.) from McGill, an M.A. in law from the University of Cambridge, and an LL.M. from the University of Toronto.

Alexandra is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the State University of Belarus. She earned a Masters of Laws degree from the University of Ottawa, focused on commercial arbitration between foreign private investors and states. Following graduations, she worked as a legal researcher on international arbitration files for the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the Trade Law Bureau of International Trade Canada.

Before she was called to the Bar in Belarus, Alexandra articled at the Economic Court of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). She practised commercial arbitration, civil litigation and contract law in Belarus for a year and a half as an associate at a law firm and as in-house counsel at a trade company.

Alexandra sits on the Board of Directors of the Ottawa chapter of the Organization of Women in International Trade (OWIT), the Ottawa chapter of the Canada Eurasia Russia Business Association (CERBA), and the Canadian Council on International Law (CCIL). She is also a member of the Membership Committee of the County of Carleton Law Association (CCLA), and a reviewer of the Parliamentary section of the Canadian Yearbook of International Law since 2003.

Alexandra speaks several languages, including English, German, Russian, Belarusian, and French, and also has a working knowledge of Polish and Ukrainian.

Justin is Counsel at the Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section of the Department of Justice and an LL.M student at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law. He obtained a Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management degree from Carleton University in 2009, a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Ottawa in 2013, and a Master of Arts in International Affairs from Carleton University in 2013. He was called to the Ontario bar in 2014.

Prior to his role at the Department of Justice, he has held positions at Amnesty International Canada (English Section), the Federal Court of Canada, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), Peace Brigades International and the Library of Parliament.