Simonsen promoted to Manitoba’s top court

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This article was published 01/09/2018 (2878 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After nearly 14 years as a judge in Manitoba’s Court of Queen’s Bench, Justice Karen Simonsen has been promoted to the province’s highest court.

The federal Justice Department announced Friday it had appointed Simonsen to the Manitoba Court of Appeal to replace Court of Appeal Justice Marc Monnin.

Monnin had been a judge for 21 years and served on the Appeal Court for seven.

Simonsen was called to the Manitoba bar in 1982 and practised civil litigation until she was appointed to the Queen’s Bench in 2004.

In a news release, the federal government noted her participation on and leadership of several court committees aimed at increasing access to justice.

“During her more than 13 years as a trial judge, Justice Simonsen heard a full range of civil, criminal and constitutional cases. She brings this extensive trial experience to the Court of Appeal,” the release said.

Last fall, she delivered a high-profile decision in the murder retrial of Mark Edward Grant, acquitting him of second-degree murder in the 1985 death of 13-year-old Candace Derksen.