Judicial Appointments in Canada - Appointments To Other Superior Courts

Appointments To Other Superior Courts

Appointments to the Federal Court and to the Federal Court of Appeal are subject to the application and assessment procedures outlined above.

Appointments to the Tax Court are subject to candidate assessments by a single five member advisory committee for all Canada which includes a representative of the Tax Court—as a one year pilot project announced in November 2006.

Appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada are subject to the legal requirement that three judges must be appointed from Quebec; by convention, the other 6 are appointed from Ontario (3), Western Canada (2), and Atlantic Canada (1). These appointments are not subject to the procedures described above for the appointment of superior court judges, and are made on the basis of a recommendation to cabinet by the Prime Minister. Recently, this has been augmented through the establishment of an ad hoc advisory committee for each vacancy on the Court; this committee reviews a list of 7 nominees submitted by the federal Minister of Justice, and shortlists three candidates from which the Prime Minister chooses a name for appointment. In addition, in February 2006 a parliamentary committee was allowed to interview the Prime Minister's selected candidate prior to his appointment.