diversity of judges in canada 2016

Judicial Diversity 2016 BaselineAndrew Griffith

Federal and Provincial Courts

• Federal courts • Supreme Court • Court of Appeal • Federal Court • Tax Court

• Provincial courts • Federally-appointed, with provincial advisory committees

• Courts of Appeal • Superior Courts • Queen's bench

• Provincial/Territorial courts, appointed by provinces and territories

Federal Jurisdiction• The Federal Court is the national court, deciding

disputes under federal jurisdiction: • claims against the Government of Canada; • civil suits between private parties in federally-regulated areas; and • reviews of the decisions of most federal tribunals.

• Including: • interprovincial and many federal-provincial disputes; • immigration and refugee matters; • intellectual property proceedings (e.g., copyright); • citizenship appeals; • Competition Act cases; and • cases involving Crown corporations or departments of the Government of Canada.

Source: Justice Canada

Provincial Jurisdiction• Most criminal offences, except the most serious ones;

• Family law matters (e.g., child support, child protection, adoption, but not divorce);

• Young persons from 12 to 17 years old in conflict with the law;

• Traffic and bylaw violations;

• Provincial/territorial regulatory offences;

• Claims involving money, up to a certain amount (set by the province or territory in question);

• Small claims (civil cases that resolve private disputes involving limited sums of money); and

• All preliminary inquiries (hearings to determine whether there is enough evidence to justify a full trial in serious criminal cases).

Source: Justice Canada

Methodology• Federal and provincial court lists and reports (gender)

• Name check for gender and diversity

• Photo check when available (few)

• Google search for articles with biographical detail

• Press releases of judicial appointments

• Consultation with provinces (see appendix)

• Consultation with lawyers

• Judges serving the North but located in Alberta removed given double counting

Federal Appointments Federal courts

27

42

15

9

Supreme Court of CanadaFederal Court of AppealFederal CourtTax Court

Federal Appointments Provincial Supreme, Appeal, Superior/Queen’s Bench

711

155

142

Provincial Supreme CourtsProvincial Courts of AppealSuperior Courts/Queen’s Bench

Appointments by Province Federal and Provincial

100

200

300

400

BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL North

1230

33533

285

351

4850

156147

1878

6140

223

354

5151

92123

Federal Provincial

Federal Court Diversity

13%

25%

38%

50%

Supreme Court Fed Court of Appeal Federal Court Tax Court0%

2.4%0%0%

7.4%

0%0%0%

25.9%

31%26.7%

44.4%

Women Visible Minority Indigenous

Provincial Court Diversity Federally-Appointed

10%

20%

30%

40%

Prov Supreme Courts Prov Courts of Appeal Superior Courts/Queen’s Bench0.1%1.3%0.7% 0.6%1.9%

4.9%

34.5%38.1%

32.4%


Chief Justice Diversity Federal Courts, Federally and Provincially-Appointed

10%

20%

30%

40%

Federal Courts Federally-Appointed Provincially-Appointed

2.6%0%0%

2.6%0%0%

36.8%

25.9%

40%


Provincial Court Diversity Provincially-Appointed

13%

25%

38%

50%



Federal-Provincial Contrast Women

13%

25%

38%

50%


Federal Provincial

Federal-Provincial Contrast Visible Minorities

8%

15%

23%

30%


Population Federal Provincial

Federal-Provincial Contrast Indigenous Peoples

15%

30%

45%

60%


Population Federal Provincial

Lawyer-Judges Comparison Visible Minorities

8%

15%

23%

30%

Canada BC Alberta Ontario Quebec

Population Lawyers NHS 2011 Federal-Appointed Provincial-Appointed

New Federal Appointments• “The government is considering the full scope of the

appointments process, including the composition and operations of the Judicial Advisory Committees,” a spokeswoman for the minister said in an e-mail to The Globe (11 April 2016).

• “Any potential changes will be examined in light of the government’s objectives to achieve transparency, accountability and diversity in the appointments process and they will be carefully considering how best to achieve this goal, taking into account views of key stakeholders and interested Canadians in this regard.”

Appendices

Number of Lawyers

TABLE 10: NUMBER OF VISIBLE MINORITY LAWYERS 25-64 2011Canada BC Alberta Ontario Quebec

Total Number 78,020 11,180 8,505 32,690 18,450

Number of VisMin 10,190 1,815 1,110 5,620 1,295

Percentage VisMin 13.1% 16.2% 13.1% 17.2% 7.0%

Public Reports• Federally-appointed: Gender only

• Provincially-appointed • British Columbia: Annual appointments reported • Alberta: No reports but gender info provided • Saskatchewan: No reports but full info provided • Manitoba: • Ontario: Ontario Judical Council full reporting 1989-2013 • Quebec: Full info provided • New Brunswick: • Nova Scotia: Full info provided • PEI: • Newfoundland and Labrador: • North:

diversity of judges in canada 2016

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