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NUNAVUT
A former defence lawyer and a former crown prosecutor are the two newest judges in Nunavut. Andrew Mahar and Bonnie Tulloch were appointed judges to the Nunavut Court of Justice, effective March 2, to fill vacancies, the federal Department of Justice announced in a news release.

Mahar is a defence lawyer practising in Iqaluit since 2001, while Tulloch is a lawyer with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in Ottawa. Mahar was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1992 and to the bars of Nunavut and NWT in 1999.

He practised law in Yellowknife from 1997 to 2001 and had served as clinic director of the Kitikmeot Law Centre for legal aid in Cambridge Bay before division.

Mahar reacted via e-mail to his appointment, stating he is "surprised, honoured, intimidated and very happy."

Tulloch became a Crown prosecutor in the Nunavut regional office in 2004, before becoming the territorial regional director the following year until 2008.

She also worked with the Legal Services Board of Nunavut from 2000 to 2003 before practising criminal law in Iqaluit from 2003 to 2004. She was admitted to the Bar of Ontario in 1996 and to the bars of the NWT in 1998 and Nunavut in 1999.

Chief Justice Robert Kilpatrick wrote to the federal government in 2010 expressing a dire need for more judges in the territory. These two appointments bring the seats on the judges' bench to six from four.

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