The Supreme Court of Canada

SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court of Canada is Canada's highest court. It is the final court of appeal, and the last resort for all litigants, whether individuals or governments.However, the Supreme Court hasn't always been the last court of appeal in Canada. At the time of Confederation, decisions from provincial courts could be appealed directly to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, for a final decision.

The Supreme Court of Canada was constituted in 1875 by an act of Parliament and is now governed by the Supreme Court Act. Bills for the creation of the Supreme Court were introduced in the Parliament of Canada in 1869 and in 1870, but both failed. However, on April 8, 1875, a new bill was finally passed. The Supreme Court is composed of a chief justice and eight puisne judges (puisne meaning ranked after), all appointed by the governor-in-council. It has jurisdiction over all areas of the law, including constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and private law.

On Feb. 20, 2006, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced a change in the process of appointing Supreme Court judges. Nominees will have to face three hours of questions from an all-party committee of the House of Commons. The committee does not have the power to veto a nominee. The final decision on whether to go ahead with the appointment or withdraw a nominee's name rests with the prime minister.
The first nominee to be questioned before such a committee was Mr. Justice Marshall Rothstein on Feb. 27, 2006.

History of the Supreme Court of Canada

Courts of law thrived in the 18th-century in Quebec (Lower Canada), Ontario (Upper Canada), and in the Maritime colonies. The Quebec Act, 1774, section17, defined powers for creating British-style criminal, civil and ecclesiastical courts in Quebec, along with Quebec's much more ancient French courts. The Constitutional Act, 1791, created the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and established new courts for each province. Next, the Union Act, 1840 created the first Court of Appeal, in this case for Upper Canada, and set salaries for judges across the country. The Constitution Act, 1867, allowed the new federal Parliament to create its own court of appeal. This was used by Parliament to create the Supreme Court of Canada. However, decisions of the new court still could be appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for final judgment. This did not end until 1933 for criminal appeals, and 1949 for civil appeals.

The statesmen most prominent in establishing the Supreme Court were Sir John A. Macdonald, Télesphore Fournier, Alexander Mackenzie and Edward Blake. This court originally had six justices. In addition to Chief Justice Richards, five associate or puisne justices sat. In 1927, the number of Supreme Court justices increased to seven and, in 1949, the court reached its present total of nine members. Of the nine, three must by law be from Quebec. Tradition dictates that three others are from Ontario, two are from the West, and one is from Atlantic Canada.

The court first sat in the Railway Committee Room at the House of Commons. In 1882, the court moved to its own small building at the foot of Parliament Hill on Bank Street. Sixty years later, the Supreme Court Building as we know it today began construction. It was designed by Ernest Cormier, the Montreal architect who also designed the Government Printing Bureau in Hull and the University of Montreal. It is situated just west of the Parliament Buildings on a bluff high above the Ottawa River. The late Queen Mother, then Queen Elizabeth, laid the cornerstone in the presence of her husband, King George VI, on May 20, 1939. After delays caused by the Second World War and the new building being used to meet wartime needs, the new court building finally held its first case in January 1946.

The Constitutional Framework

The judicial system in Canada is divided between the federal government and the 10 provincial governments. The provinces are given jurisdiction over "the administration of justice" in the provinces, including "the constitution, organization and maintenance" of the courts, both civil and criminal, in the province, as well as civil procedure in those courts. However, this jurisdiction does not extend to the appointment of the judges of all of these courts. The power to appoint the judges of the superior courts in the provinces is given to the federal government, as is the authority to remove them.

The Judiciary

All members of the judiciary in Canada, regardless of the court, are drawn from the legal profession. Those judges appointed by the federal government are required by federal statute to have been a member of a provincial or territorial bar for at least 10 years. Lawyers wishing to become judges must apply to do so and their applications are reviewed by committees established for that purpose. However, the federal cabinet has the final say.

All judges in Canada are subject to mandatory retirement. In the case of some of the judges appointed by the federal government, the age of retirement is fixed by the Constitution Act, 1867, at 75. In the case of all other judges, both federally and provincially appointed, the age is either 70 or 75, depending on the court. The chief justice is also a deputy of the governor general. This was established for the purpose of giving royal assent to bills passed by Parliament, signing official documents or receiving credentials of newly appointed high commissioners and ambassadors. Should the governor general die, become incapacitated or be absent from the country for a period of more than one month, the chief justice or, if that office is vacant, the senior puisne justice of the Supreme Court, would exercise all the powers and duties of the governor general.

Organization of Courts

The courts in Canada are organized in a four-tiered structure:

•The Supreme Court of Canada sits at the top of the structure and hears appeals from both the federal court system and the provincial court systems,

•The next tier down from the Supreme Court of Canada consists of the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada and the various provincial courts of appeal.

•The third tier consists of the Federal Court of Canada and the provincial and territorial superior courts of general jurisdiction.

•At the bottom of the hierarchy are the courts typically described as provincial courts. These include a traffic division, a small claims division, a family division and a criminal division.

The Administration of the Supreme Court

The staff of the Supreme Court total almost 150 members of the federal public service. Each justice has three law clerks who provide research assistance for a one-year term. This term satisfies the articling requirements to enter the practice of law. A judicial assistant and a court attendant are responsible for the management of the justice's office.

Court Locations

There are approximately 750 courts in Canada. The Supreme Court of Canada sits only in Ottawa. The Federal Court and the Tax Court have offices at 22 permanent locations. The provincial and territorial courts sit at more than 700 locations. These include 15 permanent provincial and territorial appellate court sitting locations - one in each province and territory except for Quebec and Alberta, which have two each.

What is the annual salary of a Supreme Court Judge?

•Chief Justice: $278,400

•Puisne Justices: $257,800