Special Prosecutions Attorney Named

The Public Prosecution Service has announced the appointment of a chief Crown attorney to head the Special Prosecutions Unit.

Marc Chisholm has been appointed to the position following a competition. Mr. Chisholm has been a Crown attorney since 1980. In 1989, he was appointed assistant chief Crown attorney (trials) and in 1994 was named acting chief Crown attorney (trials).

The Special Prosecutions Unit handles complex Criminal Code and provincial statute prosecutions that would otherwise tie up the resources of regional Crown attorney offices. These include cases involving large-scale commercial crime, sexual assaults involving a number of victims or offenders, and environmental offences. The position of chief Crown attorney was created in response to a recommendation of the Westray inquiry report.

"Marc brings 18 years of courtroom and criminal law experience to this job," said Martin Herschorn, deputy director of Public Prosecutions and acting head of the service. "He has extensive front-line prosecution experience, been involved in numerous major prosecutions over the years, and is an excellent administrator."

Mr. Chisholm, a native of Antigonish, has been active on various committees of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society and is a past president of the Nova Scotia Crown Attorneys' Association and the Nova Scotia Provincial Government Lawyers' Association. Since 1994, he has taught criminal trial practice at Dalhousie Law School.