Are you a Canadian lawyer or judge with a superior knowledge of the law, excellent analytical skills, an aptitude for resolving complex legal problems and a functional-or-better grasp of both official languages?
Do you harbour a dream of some day making it to the bench of the highest court in the land?
Well, the time for dreaming is past: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a new, transparent process for appointing judges to the Supreme Court of Canada, and for the first time ever the field is being thrown open to any qualified Canadian lawyer or judge.
As well, the government has established a seven-member, non-partisan advisory board, headed by former prime minister Kim Campbell, to review the applications and recommend a shortlist of candidates. One of the board members, Susan Ursel, is the CBA designate.
The board will not just take in applications, part of its mandate is to “actively seek out qualified candidates and encourage them to apply.”
All candidates will have to put together an application package, including a questionnaire.
“To enhance transparency, the assessment criteria guiding the Advisory Board, the questionnaire that all applicants must answer, and certain answers provided to the questionnaire by the Prime Minister’s eventual nominee, will all be made public,” the federal government said in a news release.
The new process comes just in time to fill the vacancy that Justice Thomas Cromwell will leave when he retires on September 1. Justice Cromwell was an appointment from the Atlantic region; while the only geographical representation required under the Supreme Court Act is three judges from Quebec, there are conventions that have ensured a geographical mix on the high court. Tuesday’s announcement made no mention of geography, but instead focused on diversity, an area where the CBA has long called for action.
“The CBA believes that Canadians deserve to have confidence that candidates considered for appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada have the highest qualifications and are representative of society as a whole, taking into account language, gender and knowledge of Indigenous legal systems,” CBA President Janet Fuhrer said in a statement.
“I encourage lawyers and judges – women and men, Indigenous Canadians and individuals from minority groups – to consider putting their names forward with a view to building a pool of candidates that reflects the rich diversity of Canada.”
So get your applications here, folks. The deadline for applying is August 24.