In late June, UNB President and Vice-Chancellor Paul Mazerolle, The Hon. Dominic LeBlanc (MP), Premier Blaine Higgs, and The Hon. Ted Flemming, New Brunswick minister of justice, announced that, thanks to the largest ever public investment in a Canadian law school, the UNB faculty of law is moving to the Justice Building in downtown Fredericton.
This $62-million project will transform this historic property into a state-of-the-art facility for legal education, legal assistance, public engagement, and policy-oriented and community-based research. By relocating downtown, within walking distance of the courts, the legislature, government agencies, law firms and businesses, our students will see the law in action all around them. Our faculty of law, and our university, will serve our city and our province like never before.
This iconic project will preserve the Justice Building’s architectural heritage while bringing all of its systems and spaces up to modern standards. In its new home, the faculty of law will expand by nearly 30,000 sq. ft., providing much-needed space for graduate programs, student services, research centres, and a permanent home for the UNB Legal Clinic. The Justice Building will also feature a legal observatory, where real legal proceedings will take place, and students and researchers will get a front row seat for observing how the justice system actually works.
The renovation of the Justice Building is a long-term project that will be completed in the next four to five years. UNB law is committed to engaging with all stakeholders to ensure that the project meets the needs of students, faculty, staff, and the community and that vital links between the faculty of law and the UNB Fredericton campus are preserved.
UNB law will be seeking philanthropic support to optimize the Justice Building project, and to further shape the future of legal education in Canada. Stay tuned for more details to follow in the coming months.
