Queen’s Law Alumnus Receives Prestigious Criminal Justice Award

Photo by:Paul Lawrence Photography, Toronto

Donald Bayne, Law '69, is presented with the G.Arthur Martin Criminal Justice Award by Louise Botham, President of the Criminal Lawyers' Association on November 4th, 2006.

On November 4, 2006, Donald Bayne, Law ‘69, received the Criminal Lawyers' Association's prestigious G. Arthur Martin Criminal Justice Award at the Association's Annual "Expanding the Boundaries of Criminal Law" Conference. He is only the second Queen's Law graduate to ever earn the honour. Each year, the Criminal Lawyers' Association presents this award to a Canadian criminal law practitioner who has demonstrated a significant contribution to criminal justice.

Originally hailing from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Bayne was attracted to criminal law even before he started law school. "I knew from the outset that I wanted to be a trial lawyer," he said. "And nobody does more trials than a criminal lawyer."

The former quarterback for the Queen's Golden Gaels later became a member of the Ottawa Rough Riders. Around that time, he began his legal career by opening up a small office in downtown Ottawa, where he earned a grand total of $35 his first month in business, taking on cases in a variety of areas before developing his specialty. Bayne parlayed his early experience into a thriving criminal law practice as a Senior Partner at Bayne, Sellar, Boxall.

These days, he is living his dream, spending most of his time in a courtroom, in 1989 earning the "specialist" designation from the Law Society of Upper Canada for his work in the criminal law field. Among his many accomplishments, Bayne represented RCMP anti-terrorist investigators at the Maher Arar inquiry.

Becoming a recipient of the G. Arthur Martin Criminal Justice Award is no small feat. Named for one of the preeminent jurists in Canadian history, it is regarded as the most coveted award in criminal law. In having this honour bestowed upon him, Bayne joins such prominent figures as former Supreme Court Justices Antonio Lamer and Louise Arbour.

Bayne is honoured to be mentioned in the same breath as G. Arthur Martin. "He was probably the greatest defence lawyer we had [in Canada] - ever," Bayne emphasized. "But he was also an absolutely outstanding Judge in the Court of Appeal, and led the development of the criminal law. He represented the best qualities of an advocate and judge."

Bayne gives a lot of credit to Queen's Law for its continued success in the area of criminal law, describing Queen's professors such as Donald Stuart and Allan Manson as having a disproportionate impact on the study and practice of criminal law. "The criminal law department in the Faculty of Law at Queen's is so relevant - it's not academically removed from reality of daily practice."

He should know. Bayne maintains his connection with Queen's Law, returning to campus often while serving on the university's Board of Trustees. He has made significant contributions over the years toward renovations in Macdonald Hall, and he even came back to Queen's six years ago to complete his MBA. His words and actions leave no doubt that the pride Queen's Law feels for his accomplishments are rivaled only by his love of this school and its leaders.