Practice Profile

Eric Purtzki was called to the Bar of British Columbia in May of 2009. After graduating from law school from the University of New Brunswick, he articled at the Legal Services Society. Since then, Eric has been practicing in the areas of criminal and administrative law.

His criminal law practice consists of representing clients in relation to Criminal Code offences and other regulatory offences. He has appeared before all levels of  court including, the Supreme Court of Canada, British Columbia Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court of British Columbia, and the Provincial Court of British Columbia. Eric has also conducted trials and judicial reviews before the Federal Court of Canada and appeals to the Federal Court of Appeal. Eric also has extensive experience representing clients in administrative proceedings in prison and parole matters as well as in other administrative proceedings such as the investigations conducted under the Food and Drug Act. In addition to his private practice, Eric is also a case review lawyer at the appeals department of the Legal Services Society.

Throughout his career, Eric has volunteered providing legal advice through Access Pro Bono and representing clients through the Innocence Project at the University of British Columbia. He has also been a frequent contributor to continuing legal education conferences and been a guest lecturer at the University of British Columbia, Peter Allard School of Law. Eric has also testified before the Senate Committee of Legal and Constitutional Affairs concerning Bill C-47, amendments to the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. Eric is also asked to comment in radio and print media including the Lawyers Weekly and the Globe and Mail.

Representative Cases

Supreme Court of Canada

  • R. v. Knott & D.A.P, 2012 SCC 42 (interpretation of section 731(1) of the Criminal Code)
  • Canada (A.G.) v. Whaling, 2014 SCC 20 (retrospective abolition of accelerated parole in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act struck down under section 11(h) of the Charter)
  • R. v. D.L.W., 2016 SCC 22 (Crown appealed dismissed, dealing with  scope and interpretation of 160(1) of the Criminal Code)
  • R. v. K.R.J., 2016 SCC 31 (dealing with constitutionality of s.161(1) the Criminal Code)
  • R. v. Bradshaw, 2017 SCC 35 (dealing with principles of hearsay evidence)
  • R. v. Boutilier, 2017 SCC 64 (constitutionality of the dangerous offender provisions in the Criminal Code)
  • Ewert v. HMTQ, 2018 SCC 30 (dealing with the statutory obligations of the Canada toward Aboriginal offenders)

British Columbia Court of Appeal/Supreme Court

Federal Court/Federal Court of Appeal