Chief Justice of Canada

The chief justice of Canada (French: juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-member Supreme Court of Canada, the highest judicial body in Canada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of the Canadian court system. The Supreme Court Act makes the chief justice, a Crown in Council appointment, meaning the Crown acting on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. The chief justice serves until they resign, turn 75 years old, die, or are removed from office for cause. By tradition, a new chief justice is chosen from among the court's incumbent puisne justices.

Chief Justice of Canada
Juge en Chef du Canada
The Chief Justice of Canada
Incumbent
Richard Wagner
since December 18, 2017
Supreme Court of Canada
Canadian judicial system
(King-on-the-Bench)
StyleThe Right Honourable
Madam/Mister Chief Justice
StatusChief justice, head of a court system
Deputy Governor General
4th in Canadian order of precedence
Member ofSupreme Court
Canadian Judicial Council (Ex-officio chairman)
Order of Canada advisory council (chairman)
SeatSupreme Court Building, Ottawa, Ontario
NominatorCabinet
AppointerCrown;
on the advice of the prime minister
Term lengthNone;
mandatory retirement at age 75
Constituting instrumentSupreme Court Act
Inaugural holderSir William Buell Richards
FormationSeptember 30, 1875 (1875-09-30)
SuccessionMay assume viceregal role as Administrator of Canada
Salary$413,500 (as of April 2018)[1]
Websitescc-csc.gc.ca

The chief justice has significant influence in the procedural rules of the Court, presides when oral arguments are held, and leads the discussion of cases among the justices. The chief justice is also deputy governor general, ex-officio chairman of the Canadian Judicial Council, and heads the committee that selects recipients of the Order of Canada. Additionally, a chief justice also assumes the role of Administrator of Canada and exercises the viceregal duties of the governor general upon the death, resignation or incapacitation of the governor general.

Richard Wagner has served as the current chief justice of Canada since 2017. Since the Supreme Court was established in 1875, 18 people have served as chief justice. The court's first chief justice was William Buell Richards; Beverley McLachlin is the longest serving Canadian chief justice (17 years, 341 days), and was the first woman to hold the position.

Appointment

The chief justice is appointed by the Governor in Council under the Supreme Court Act on the advice of the prime minister.[2] The appointment is subject to the Supreme Court Act, which governs the administration and appointment of judges of the court. By this component of the Constitution of Canada, Judges appointed to the court must be "a judge of a superior court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of a province."

Tradition dictates that the chief justice be appointed from among the court's puisne judges; in the history of the Court, only two were not: William Buell Richards, and Charles Fitzpatrick. It is also customary that a new chief justice be chosen alternately from among: the three justices who by law must be from Quebec (with its civil law system), and the other six justices from the rest of Canada (representing the common law tradition). Since 1933, this tradition has only been broken once, when Brian Dickson of Manitoba was named to succeed Bora Laskin of Ontario in 1984.

Duties

The chief justice's central duty is to preside at hearings before the Supreme Court.[3] The chief justice presides from the centre chair. If the chief justice is absent, the senior puisne judge presides.[3]

Judicial Council

The chief justice chairs the Canadian Judicial Council, which is composed of all chief justices and associate chief justices of superior courts in Canada. This body, established in 1971 by the Judges Act, organizes seminars for federally appointed judges, coordinates the discussion of issues of concern to the judiciary, and conducts inquiries, either on public complaint or at the request of a federal or provincial minister of justice or attorney general, into the conduct of any federally appointed judge.

Other duties

The chief justice is sworn as a member of the Privy Council prior to taking the judicial oath of office.[4] The chief justice also sits on the advisory council of Canada's highest civilian order, the Order of Canada. In practice however, the chief justice abstains from voting on a candidate's removal from the order, presumably because this process has so far only applied to individuals convicted in a lower court of a criminal offence, and could create a conflict of interest for the chief justice if that individual appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court.

Under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, each province has a three-person commission responsible for modifying that province's federal ridings. The chair of each such commission is appointed by the chief justice of that province; if no appointment is made by the provincial chief justice, the responsibility falls to the chief justice of Canada.[5]

Administrator of Canada

The Constitution Act, 1867 provides that there can be an "Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of Canada."[6] The Letters Patent, 1947 respecting the Office of Governor General provide that, should the governor general should 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 become Administrator of Canada and exercise all the powers and duties of the governor general.[7] This has happened on four occasions: chief justices Lyman Duff and Robert Taschereau each did so, in 1940 and 1967 respectively, following the death of the incumbent governor general, as did Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin when the Governor General underwent surgery in 2005. With the resignation of Julie Payette in January 2021, Richard Wagner served as Administrator until the appointment of Mary Simon as Governor General in July of the same year.[8][9]

The chief justice and the other justices of the court serve as deputies of the governor general 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.

Current chief justice

The current chief justice is Richard Wagner, who took office on December 18, 2017, succeeding Beverley McLachlin. Born in Montreal on April 2, 1957, Wagner had been a puisne Supreme Court justice for 5 years, 74 days at the time of his elevation to chief justice. He previously sat on the Quebec Court of Appeal.

List of chief justices

Since the Supreme Court was established in 1875, the following 18 persons have served as Chief Justice:[10]

Image Name
(Province)
Order and term[upper-alpha 1] Length of term Appointed on
advice of
Date of birth Date of death
William Buell Richards
(Ontario)
1st September 30, 1875 –
January 10, 1879
3 years, 102 days Mackenzie May 2, 1815 January 26, 1889
William Johnstone Ritchie
(New Brunswick)
2nd January 11, 1879 –
September 25, 1892
13 years, 258 days Macdonald October 28, 1813 September 25, 1892[upper-alpha 2]
Samuel Henry Strong
(Ontario)
3rd December 13, 1892 –
November 17, 1902
9 years, 339 days Thompson August 13, 1825 August 31, 1909
Henri Elzéar Taschereau
(Quebec)
4th November 21, 1902 –
May 1, 1906
3 years, 161 days Laurier October 7, 1836 April 14, 1911
Charles Fitzpatrick[upper-alpha 3]
(Quebec)
5th June 4, 1906 –
October 20, 1918
12 years, 138 days Laurier December 19, 1851 June 17, 1942
Louis Henry Davies
(Prince Edward Island)
6th October 23, 1918 –
May 1, 1924
5 years, 191 days Borden May 4, 1845 May 1, 1924[upper-alpha 2]
Francis Alexander Anglin
(Ontario)
7th September 16, 1924 –
February 27, 1933
8 years, 164 days King April 2, 1865 March 2, 1933
Lyman Duff
(British Columbia)
8th March 17, 1933 –
January 6, 1944[upper-alpha 4]
10 years, 295 days Bennett January 7, 1865 April 26, 1955
Thibaudeau Rinfret
(Quebec)
9th January 8, 1944 –
June 21, 1954
10 years, 164 days King June 22, 1879 July 25, 1962
Patrick Kerwin
(Ontario)
10th July 1, 1954 –
February 2, 1963
8 years, 216 days St. Laurent October 25, 1889 February 2, 1963[upper-alpha 2]
Robert Taschereau
(Quebec)
11th April 22, 1963 –
August 31, 1967[upper-alpha 5]
4 years, 131 days Pearson September 10, 1896 July 26, 1970
John Robert Cartwright
(Ontario)
12th September 1, 1967 –
March 22, 1970
2 years, 202 days Pearson March 23, 1895 November 24, 1979
Gérald Fauteux
(Quebec)
13th March 23, 1970 –
December 22, 1973
3 years, 274 days P. Trudeau October 22, 1900 September 14, 1980
Bora Laskin
(Ontario)
14th December 27, 1973 –
March 26, 1984
10 years, 90 days P. Trudeau October 5, 1912 March 26, 1984[upper-alpha 2]
Brian Dickson
(Manitoba)
15th April 18, 1984 –
June 29, 1990
6 years, 72 days P. Trudeau May 25, 1916 October 17, 1998
Antonio Lamer
(Quebec)
16th July 1, 1990 –
January 6, 2000
9 years, 189 days Mulroney July 8, 1933 November 24, 2007
Beverley McLachlin
(British Columbia)
17th January 7, 2000 –
December 14, 2017[upper-alpha 6]
17 years, 341 days Chrétien September 7, 1943 2023-10-25(living)
Richard Wagner
(Quebec)
18th December 18, 2017 –
Incumbent
5 years, 311 days[upper-alpha 7] J. Trudeau April 2, 1957 2023-10-25(living)

This graphical timeline depicts the length of each justice's tenure as chief justice:[10]

Notes

  1. The start date listed for each chief justice is the day the justice took the judicial oath of office, and the end date is the date of the justice's death, resignation, or retirement.
  2. Died in office
  3. Appointed directly from the Cabinet, and never served as puisne justice; only time the chief justiceship has been filled from outside the judiciary.[11]
  4. Assumed vice regal duties as Administrator of Canada February 11 – June 21, 1940, following the death in office of Governor General Lord Tweedsmuir.
  5. Assumed vice regal duties as Administrator of Canada March 5 – April 17, 1967, following the death in office of Governor General Georges Vanier.
  6. Assumed vice regal duties as Administrator of Canada in July 2005 when Governor General Adrienne Clarkson underwent surgery.[12]
  7. As of October 25, 2023

References

  1. "Guide for Candidates". Ottawa, Ontario: Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs. Retrieved November 23, 2018.
  2. "Supreme Court of Canada". Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  3. "Supreme Court of Canada – Role of the Court". www.scc-csc.ca. Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
  4. "About the Judges". Supreme Court of Canada. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  5. "Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act". Retrieved 2009-09-25.
  6. Constitution Act, 1867, s. 10.
  7. Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor General of Canada, s. 8.
  8. Ashley Burke, "Payette stepping down as governor general after blistering report on Rideau Hall work environment". CBC News, January 21, 2021.
  9. Catharine Tunney, "Mary Simon officially becomes Canada's first Inuk Governor General". CBC News, July 26, 2021.
  10. "Current and Former Chief Justices". Ottawa, Ontario: Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  11. Snell, James G.; Vaughan, Frederick (1985). The Supreme Court of Canada: History of the Institution. Osgoode Hall, Toronto, Ontario: Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History. p. 90. ISBN 0-8020-3417-9. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  12. Everett, Jason K. (Summer 2016). "Beverly McLachlin, Canada: Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Canada". International Judicial Monitor. Washington, D.C.: International Judicial Academy of the International Law Institute. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
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