David Watt

B.A. from University of Waterloo, 1967. LL.B from Queen’s University, 1970 (Silver Medallist). LL.D (Hon.) from Law Society of Upper Canada, 2005. Called to the Bar of Ontario, 1972. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1982. Counsel, Criminal Appeals and Special Prosecutions Branch, Ministry of the Attorney General, 1972-1976. Deputy Director, Crown Law Office-Criminal, Ministry of the Attorney General, 1976-1977. Senior Crown Counsel (Criminal Law), Ministry of the Attorney General, 1977-1985. Visiting Professor of Law and Practitioner-in-Residence, Osgoode Hall Law School, 1984-1985. Practitioner-in-Residence, Faculty of Law, Dalhousie University, 2006-2007. Appointed to the Supreme Court of Ontario (High Court of Justice) in 1985, and to the Court of Appeal for Ontario in 2007 until retirement on November 2, 2021. Also served as member of Court Martial Appeal Court of Canada, and ad hoc member of Supreme Court of Yukon. Extensive teaching experience, including as Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, and University of Toronto Law School. A former Associate Director of the National Judicial Institute. Chair, Co-Chair, and Honourary Chair of the Federation of Law Societies’ National Criminal Law Program, 1986 to 2017. 1998 recipient of the American Bar Association-American Law Institute’s Harrison Tweed Award for Excellence in Continuing Legal Education. 2016 recipient of the Canadian Bar Association Judges’ Forum Colleague in the Spotlight award. Author of several publications, including Tremeear’s Annotated Criminal Code, Watt’s Manual of Criminal Evidence, Watt’s Manual of Criminal Jury Instructions, Helping Jurors Understand, and Watt’s Criminal Law and Evidence Newsletter. Frequent lecturer at continuing legal education programs in Ontario and across the country.