Judicial Officers of The Court
The Superior Court consists of the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice, currently the Hon. Heather Forster Smith; the Associate Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Justice, currently the Honourable J. Douglas Cunningham; 8 Regional Senior Judges; a Senior Judge of the Family Court; and such number of judges as is fixed by provincial regulation. The current complement of judges is fixed at 223 judges excluding the Chief Justice, the Associate, the Regional Senior Judges and the Senior Judge of the Family Court. Of this number, 29 are appointed as members of the Family Court. In addition there are a number of supernumerary judges appointed as required from time to time.
Superior Court Judges are federally appointed and paid by the federal government. There are also provincially appointed judicial officers who exercise certain functions in the superior court. These include masters, assessment officers and registrars.
Masters have jurisdiction conferred by the rules of the court in civil and family proceedings in the Superior Court. In civil matters, masters are authorized to hear most pre-trial procedural questions and, as well, deal with specialized matters such as construction liens. Masters carry out case management functions and conduct pre-trials and settlement conferences. The purpose of masters is to undertake work that would otherwise fall to judges and in areas of the province where masters are not assigned, these functions are carried out by the judges of the court. Currently there are masters in Toronto, Windsor and Ottawa.
Orders made by masters have the same force and effect as judges' orders although they may be appealed to a judge. Masters are appointed and paid by the provincial government. Masters have existed in the courts of Ontario since 1837.
Registrars in Bankruptcy: The Superior Court of Justice also has 5 Judicial Officers designated by the Chief Justice under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act to sit as part of the Bankruptcy Court. Currently there is the Registrar and two Deputy Registrars at Toronto as well as a Deputy Registrar in each of Ottawa and London.
Assessment Officers: Assessment Officers (formerly known as taxing officers) review lawyers bills under the Solicitors Act and adjudicate costs awarded to parties by judges or masters if the court does not fix the costs at the hearing of the motion or trial.
Read more about this topic: Ontario Superior Court Of Justice
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