Chief Justice Len Marchand
KEYNOTE: Chief Justice Len Marchand is Syilx and has dedicated much of his legal career to advancing reconciliation. After earning a B.A.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in 1986 and working in industry, he completed his law degree at the University of Victoria in 1994 and was called to the B.C. Bar in 1995. He later joined the bars of the Yukon and Northwest Territories in 2006. As a lawyer, he played a pivotal role in negotiating the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement and served on the Selection Committee for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Appointed to the Provincial Court of B.C. in 2013, he presided over the Cknucwentn Court in Kamloops, working closely with Elders to develop culturally grounded healing plans for Indigenous offenders. He was appointed to the Supreme Court of B.C. in 2017, the Courts of Appeal for B.C. and Yukon in 2021, and became Chief Justice of both courts in December 2023.
The Honoury Jessi L.K. Hall
PANELIST: The Hon. Jessi L.K. Hall has been a District Family Court Judge of the First Circuit, State of Hawai`i since December 2017. She has been the lead judge in all divisions and subject areas within the Family Court, as well as the presiding judge of the Nā Kama Lei, a child welfare specialty court working with families involved in the child welfare system with children from birth to the age of five years. Currently Judge Hall sits in the Juvenile division, which addresses juvenile criminal cases as well as child welfare cases. Judge Hall has been involved with the development of an elementary level truancy pilot program. She also seeks to develop culturally based programs within the juvenile justice system as well as the child welfare system, with the hope of breaking the cycle of court involvement and in turn reducing the number of Native Hawaiians involved with the judicial system.
Corin Merrick
PANELIST: Corin Merrick (Ngāti Whare, Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Raukawa) is a Barrister sole at Matariki Chambers in South Auckland, with a strong foundation in te reo Māori and tikanga, having been educated through Kōhanga Reo, Kura Kaupapa Māori, and Te Panekiretanga o te Reo. She specialises in family law and is regularly appointed as counsel for child and counsel to assist in complex cases, particularly where law intersects with tikanga Māori. Corin also works in the Youth Court and Te Kōti Rangatahi and is on the Central Authority’s panel for Hague Convention child abduction cases. She is a lead advisor to the Pou Tangata justice iwi leaders’ group and a passionate advocate for reform in the care and protection system. Corin is co-author of Kia Kākano Rua Te Ture, a te reo Māori legal handbook, and teaches courtroom advocacy in te reo Māori through Kura Rōia. As director of Te Korimako Legal Education, she supports iwi and Māori providers with legal training. A trustee of Kotahi Rau Pukapuka, she has translated several titles into te reo Māori, including works by Maya Angelou.