Canadian Lawyer

pieces" in front of a government building last year. He is refer- ring to 36-year-old assistant public prosecutor in Coban, Alta Verapaz, Allan Stowlinsky Vidaurre, who according to the newspaper Hispanically Speaking News, was not only brutally murdered but whose remains were found in five plastic bags left around the Public Ministry's Interior Department. The Mexico-based drug cartel Los Zetas' Z200 bloc left a note with the body. Los Zetas are linked to an earlier massacre of 27 people. Such deaths have caused the United Nation's Office of the High Commission for Human Rights to speak out regard- ing the killing of prosecutors in Central America, citing 60 murders in Honduras alone. Shaw says his ability to help in Central America is extreme- B.C. INTRODUCES FIRST METAL THEFT LAW Metal Dealers and Recyclers Act in November 2011 but it became effective July 23, making it the first province in Canada to target metal theft. "Metal theft has been a public safety problem in B.C. by interfering with telephone services, emergency communications, transportation sys- tems, and leaving live wires which threaten repair workers and other people with electrocution," says the ministry's announcement enacting the new law. Under the new act, the province's 60 to 70 scrap metal dealers need to be registered and report purchase of metal to police. They will not be allowed to pay more than $50 in cash; purchases greater than that must be made by cheque. Sellers must present identification and dealers must submit to police a roster of purchased metals. Dealers will be subjected to a $250 fine for not checking T he law may have its own metal, but British Columbia now has its first metal law. B.C.'s Ministry of Justice announced the new identification and another $250 fine for not taking reason- able measures to make sure that the identification has not been altered and is authentic. Wire and metal with identifi- cation marks, such as those of a telecommunications com- pany, require that the buyer ensure it is a valid third-party transaction or face a possible $500 fine. While such viola- tion tickets can reach up to $50,000, administrative penal- ties to a dealer tally $50,000 while offence penalties taken to court can reach $100,000 and/or six months in jail. Corporations such as TELUS Corp. report metal theft ly satisfying. "It is very gratifying because you have the oppor- tunity to work towards the improvement of a system," he says, as those efforts help the judiciary to bring forward more open and transparent courts. The lawyers that Shaw teaches will then organize sessions to teach others. While Canada's $1.5-million grant to INTERPOL won't directly aid efforts such as Shaw's, the money will help the intelligence gathering and criminal analysis project that pro- vides equipment and training to local authorities monitoring major crime groups in Central America. "INTERPOL is a global communications network as well as housing important databases and fingerprints," notes Shaw, adding its ability to track international crime and send alerts to policing agencies is "key to why it is so important." Shaw worked with INTERPOL in 2011 when his wife Janine Benedet, a university professor, took a sabbatical to write a paper. The couple spent it in Lyon, France, a city famil- iar to Shaw as a child when his father worked as a Canadian Press freelance journalist providing European coverage from the area. He decided to submit an application since Lyon houses INTERPOL's headquarters, and "as a fluke I happened to fit the profile" of a short-term contract job working with the office of legal affairs. While Shaw can't disclose details, the job entailed bridging common law countries and local civil law staff. The position allowed him to use both his graduate degree in criminal law from the University of Paris II (Pantheon- Assas) as well as his law degree from Queen's University and experience working in Ontario's court system. Working with INTERPOL is an experience he recom- mends to colleagues. "It was anything but routine. The head [of legal affairs] is Joel Sollier, a former UN terrorism expert [and unit chief of the UN's Counter Terrorism Unit]. He has a strategic vision of where the legal office should be, which made it an exciting place to work." Shaw says INTERPOL pro- vides a rich internal culture for law. "There are people there from over 190 member countries and I met a wide range of people from different legal backgrounds." jean_sorensen@telus.net — JEAN SORENSEN 28th Annual CANADIAN SECURITIES REGULATION COURSE costs $19 million a year, while municipalities report every- thing from graveyard covers to manhole covers stolen, and, private home builders have seen thousands of dollars in copper and other metals stolen from homes being reno- vated or under construction. November 5 – 6, 2012 | Toronto This intensive two-day course will provide you with a thorough understanding of securities regulation across Canada and how to deal with the provincial regulatory authorities. — JS ENROLL Today! Call 1 888 777-1707 or visit www.insightinfo.com/csrtor2012 www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com SEPTEMBER 2012 15 ntitled-1 1 12-08-07 9:12 AM

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