The Hon. John Kerr

This interview with Justice John Kerr provides a comprehensive overview of his legal career spanning from the 1960s through the 2000s. Born in Toronto in 1933 to a lawyer father, Kerr graduated from University of Toronto in Commerce & Finance before entering Osgoode Hall Law School in 1959. After articling with his father and being called to the bar in 1964, he joined the York County Crown Attorney’s office under Henry Bull, where he worked for seventeen years prosecuting cases in various magistrates’ courts, particularly in Scarborough.

Kerr’s prosecutorial career was highlighted by the Swietlinski murder case in 1977-1978, which he describes as the first prosecution in Toronto under the new first and second degree murder sections of the Criminal Code. In 1981, he was appointed to the Provincial Court bench, where he served in various capacities including running assignment court at Old City Hall and later moving to Scarborough court in 1992. Throughout the interview, Kerr discusses the evolution of the legal system, including changes in disclosure practices, plea bargaining, the impact of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the transformation of court procedures and sentencing practices over his decades of service.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.