Judge in ‘knees together’ case seeks review of judicial council decision

A judge who could lose his job after asking a sexual assault complainant why she couldn't keep her knees together is asking for a judicial review in his case.

Justice Robin Camp wants to address the Canadian Judicial Council after the accused in the original trial was acquitted again in a retrial.

In court documents filed this week, Camp says the council refused his request to speak because he already had the opportunity to address a disciplinary panel and the acquittal didn't change anything.

Camp wants the Federal Court to intervene. He noted that while the majority of council members agreed with the refusal, five members felt Camp should be heard.

The council declined to comment on Camp's application, because it is before the courts.

The disciplinary panel has recommended Camp lose his job after his controversial comments to the female complainant in the original sexual assault trial of Alexander Wagar.

Court transcripts from the 2014 trial in Calgary show that Camp, who was a provincial court judge at the time, called the complainant "the accused" numerous times — a mistake he repeated at the judicial council hearing before correcting himself.

He also told the young woman "pain and sex sometimes go together" and asked why she didn't just keep her "knees together."

Camp found Wagar not guilty, but the Appeal Court ordered a new trial and last month Wager was acquitted again.

Camp is currently waiting to see if the council will agree with the disciplinary panel's decision and recommend that he be removed from the bench.

Regardless of the council's decision, Camp's fate will ultimately lie with federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and then Parliament.

What happens at that point is a bit of an unknown. The council says judges facing removal have either resigned or retired.