See also Prejudice and Discrimination in Canada. So far, there has been some progress on making the judiciary more gender balanced. See also Gender Equality ; Gender Equity. As of , four out of nine Supreme Court of Canada justices were women; including the chief justice, Beverley McLachlin. More than a third of all federally and provincially appointed judges on the remaining courts were female as of However, the judiciary remains a White bastion.
As of , there were no visible minorities or Indigenous judges on the Supreme Court or the Federal Court of Appeal. There were only a few Indigenous judges on the Federal Court. The same held true for all levels of the federally and provincially appointed provincial level courts.
There were only a handful of Indigenous and visible minority judges presiding over the courts where the vast majority of the country's judicial work takes place.
Federally appointed judges hold office until the mandatory retirement age of This applies if they are serving on the Supreme Court , the Federal Court or a provincial superior court. In the case of superior court judges, this would apply after they have served 10 years on the bench and have reached the age of The retirement age of provincially appointed judges usually age 70 is set out in various statutes creating the provincial courts. Judges are required to maintain good behaviour to keep their positions.
Federally appointed judges can be removed only by Parliament. This would happen upon the recommendation of the minister of justice, following a review by the Canadian Judicial Council. Under the federal Judges Act , matters not constituting good behaviour are given broad definition to include conditions such as a judge becoming senile.
It is made up of the various federally appointed chief justices and associate chief justices of the superior courts; as well as the senior judges of the territorial courts. It is chaired by the Chief Justice of Canada. The Council provides continuing education for federally appointed judges. It makes recommendations to the minister of justice following the investigation and review of judges' conduct; or of complaints against them.
It also recommends, when appropriate, a judge's removal. As of , the Council has only twice recommended the removal of a judge. Parliament has never had to take the next step of removing a judge.
Those facing removal resigned instead. Similar but varying guidelines for judicial behaviour exist for provincially appointed judges.
Some provincially appointed judges have been removed by an impeachment process. In certain provinces, this process follows investigation and review by a provincial judicial council like its federal counterpart. Provincially appointed judges have been disciplined or removed for the commission of a crime and for moral turpitude.
The reasons for judicial appointments have always been surrounded with secrecy. This fuels the belief that political considerations influence the appointments. It is widely held that to become a judge, it helps to be politically connected with the political party in power; or that some judges get their positions and promotions as patronage favours.
A person should not be disqualified from a judicial appointment because of past political affiliation. This matter became the subject of public debate during the federal election following a spate of patronage appointments by the outgoing government.
From the early s until , all federal judicial appointments were externally reviewed by the Judicial Appointments Committee of the Canadian Bar Association. This review served as a buffer against the use of judicial appointments as political patronage. This procedure was not followed in a appointment.
The controversy that followed led to major reviews studying the appointments process. It also resulted in subsequent changes that led to the current system. The present process, however, does not guarantee that appointments are immune from politics. This is because final appointments are made from a list of reviewed and approved candidates by the minister of justice or, in some instances, by the prime minister after consultation with cabinet.
Generally, the appointment process is far less politicized now than in the past. The Chief Justice is also responsible for reporting and approving judicial leaves of absence and responding to complaints and disciplinary issues for associate justices.
This responsibility requires the Chief Justice to communicate and liase with the federal and provincial governments and many other stakeholders in the justice system, including other courts and the Bar. Under the Courts of Justice Act , if the Chief Justice is absent from Ontario or for any reason is unable to act, the Associate Chief Justice performs and exercises his or her duties and powers.
As well as these statutory responsibilities, the Associate Chief Justice performs specific duties assigned by the Chief Justice, including working with the Administrative Judge of the Divisional Court to ensure the effective administration of this branch of the Court. For administrative purposes, the Court is broken down into eight judicial regions across the province.
Subject to the authority of the Chief Justice, each Regional Senior Judge exercises the powers and performs the duties of the Chief Justice in his or her region. In particular, the Regional Senior Judge exercises the powers of the Chief Justice to direct and supervise sittings and assign judicial duties in the region. A Regional Senior Judge, in turn, may delegate specified functions to another Superior Court judge in the region. For example, Regional Senior Judges may designate Local Administrative Judges to assign and schedule cases at certain court sites or for particular jurisdictions.
In addition, Regional Senior Judges appoint deputy judges of the Small Claims Court in their regions with the approval of the Attorney General , and also address complaints and disciplinary matters concerning deputy judges.
The Senior Family Judge provides advice to the Chief Justice on specific matters concerning the Family Court, including judicial education, practice and procedure, Family Court expansion, and expenditure of budgeted funds. Except in special circumstances such as removal from office on grounds on misconduct that could lead to their dismissal, a federally appointed judge may remain in office until the age of In some provinces and territories, the retirement age is The Canadian Judicial Council is responsible for federally appointed judges.
It is the CJC's role to receive complaints, review them and to recommend, if necessary, the dismissal of the offending judge.
In order for our judicial system to inspire confidence, it must be totally immune to external influences, whether governmental or other.
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