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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%
Women Visible Minority Indigenous
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%
Women Visible Minority Indigenous
Provincial Court Diversity Provincially-Appointed
13%
25%
38%
50%
BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL North
Women Visible Minority Indigenous
Federal-Provincial Contrast Women
13%
25%
38%
50%
BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL North
Federal Provincial
Federal-Provincial Contrast Visible Minorities
8%
15%
23%
30%
BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL North
Population Federal Provincial
Federal-Provincial Contrast Indigenous Peoples
15%
30%
45%
60%
BC AB SK MB ON QC NB NS PEI NL North
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: