Senate Ethics Officer

Honourable James W O'Reilly

Senate Ethics Officer

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appointed the Honourable James W O’Reilly to the position of Senate Ethics Officer on December 20, 2024, and he took up the position on January 10, 2025. As Senate Ethics Officer, Mr O’Reilly is responsible for administering, interpreting, and applying the Ethics and Conflict of Interest Code for Senators, providing advice on the Code to members of the Senate.

Justice O’Reilly holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Western University, a Bachelor of Laws from Osgoode Hall Law School, and a Master of Laws from the University of Ottawa.

Mr O’Reilly is a widely respected member of Canada’s legal community. After being called to the Ontario Bar in 1985, Mr O’Reilly had a varied legal career. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he served as Consultant to the Law Reform Commission of Canada (now the Law Commission of Canada), Legal Advisor in the Department of Justice Canada, sole practitioner specializing in legal policy and law reform, and Executive Legal Officer at the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2002, he became Associate Executive Director at the National Judicial Institute and Counsel to the Collusion Investigation in London, United Kingdom. He was appointed a judge of the Federal Court in 2002 and of the Court Martial Appeal Court in 2003.

Mr O’Reilly is the author of many reports and publications and has taught law at Carleton University, the University of Ottawa, McGill University, Western University, and the Law Society of Upper Canada. He served as Co-Chair of the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ)’s Judgment Writing Seminar from 2009 to 2023, and was appointed CIAJ’s President in 2019. He is also a Fellow of McLaughlin College at York University and, in 2023, was awarded the Inns of Court Judicial Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, University of London.