Professor Sanjeev Anand: an interview

By: Sheila Evani

Chances are, the first time you met Professor Sanjeev Anand, you could have mistaken him for a student. With a casual, easy-going manner, and a decidedly youthful appearance, Professor Anand hardly fits most people's preconceived expectations of a law professor. But don't be deceived: regardless of his age (about which there has already been a great deal of speculation), Professor Anand brings to the U of A a vast and refreshing combination of experience, enthusiasm and expertise that is already making him a great favourite among students and staff.

"As instructors, one of our collective goals is to enhance the already collegial atmosphere at the U of A," he says. "It is my hope that the students see me as an accessible professor who cares about his teaching performance and their general well-being."

Professor Anand joins the Faculty of Law from a two year stint at the University of Saskatchewan where he taught both Criminal Law and Constitutional Law. An Edmonton native, he is thrilled to be at the U of A for both personal and professional reasons.

On a personal level, both Professor Anand and his wife are glad to be back in the city where most of their family still lives, particularly since this gives their baby daughter a chance to grow up with a closer relationship to her grandparents. Professionally, he is excited by the chance to work at a school which is renowned for its excellent research resources.

Professor Anand is a member of the Law Society of Alberta. After graduating with his L.L.B at the Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in 1993, he worked as a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society of Alberta Youth Office where he was one of six staff lawyers whose practice was solely devoted to criminal defence work for young offenders. He then joined the Alberta Department of Justice, initially as a Crown Prosecutor doing trial work, and then later as Appellate Counsel with the Alberta Attorney-General's office. In 1999, Professor Anand completed his doctorate in law at Osgoode Hall, where he also taught their first year law students the Legal Research and Writing course.

Professor Anand has published numerous journal articles on subjects ranging from young offender law and search and seizure, to freedom of expression and hate propaganda. His passion for criminal law is something he hopes to share with the U of A law students in a lasting and substantive way by helping to establish the university as a hotbed of criminal scholarship.

"One of my principal goals at the University of Alberta is to create, along with Professors James Stribopolous and Wayne Renke, the strongest criminal law program in Western Canada," says Anand. "For me, that means more criminal law course offerings for our students and perhaps even founding a clinical criminal law program. It also means building bridges between the practising criminal bar and the law school. This is a very exciting opportunity."