By Angelica Dino for Canadian Lawyer Magazine
Minister of Justice and Attorney General David Lametti has announced that legislative amendments to the Judges Act, aimed at enhancing the judicial complaints process, have received Royal Assent and become law.
The amendments reform the process for handling complaints against judges, established 50 years ago. Under the new system, mandatory sanctions will be imposed on judges when a misconduct complaint is found to be valid but not severe enough to warrant removal from office. These sanctions may include counselling, continuing education, or reprimands.
The process for dealing with more severe judicial complaints will be streamlined, which could result in removing a judge from the bench. Judges who face removal from the bench will have access to an appeal panel of three members of the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) and two judges and, finally, to the Supreme Court of Canada, should the court agree to hear the appeal. The previous process for court review of CJC decisions involved judicial review by two additional levels of court, the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal, before a judge could ask the Supreme Court of Canada to hear their case. The new process will allow for more timely and cost-effective resolutions than the previous cumbersome and expensive process.
The CJC remains responsible for administering the judicial complaints process and is now mandated include the number of complaints received and their resolutions in its public annual report.
Lametti emphasized the importance of accountability in the justice system and highlighted that judges will now be held accountable for instances of less serious misconduct that still carry consequences.
"For the first time, judges will be accountable for less serious – but nevertheless consequential – instances of misconduct. By reforming how complaints against judges are handled, we can ensure that our judicial system is one Canadians can trust," Lametti commented.
The restructured process also introduces funding and financial control mechanisms to ensure better accountability for process costs. Previous public consultations informed these amendments to implement essential changes while upholding the constitutional principle of judicial independence.