Walter Owen Book Prize

Nominations of French language books published in 2022 or 2023 in Canada are invited for the 2024 Walter Owen Book Prize Awarded annually by The Canadian Foundation for Legal Research, the Prize serves to recognize and reward excellent legal research and writing from among books, published in Canada, which comprise outstanding new contributions to the quality of Canadian legal literature.

Established in 1988, the Prize celebrates the professional life of Walter Owen, O.C., Q.C. (1904-1981), prominent member of the Law Society of British Columbia, former Lieutenant Governor of that province, past President of the Canadian Bar Association and, in 1959, first President of the Foundation.

  • The Prize is awarded in alternating years from among books written in French (awarded in even-numbered years, including 2024) and in English (awarded in odd-numbered years).
  • The 2024 Prize will be awarded for a book or books in the French language published in 2022 or 2023.
  • Books must be, or possess capacity for being, professionally invaluable to members of Canada’s Bar, Bench, and law academies.
  • Co-authors of books are acknowledged as nominees.
  • Nominee(s), if chosen for the Prize, must be agreeable (i) to both digital and hardcopy publicizing of their having been selected, and (ii) to sharing their legal expertise, evident in their book(s), in a one-hour webinar on the Foundation’s website within six months of being selected for the Prize.
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