The legality of the appointment of Mainville J.A. to the Quebec Court of Appeal from the Federal Court of Appeal has been challenged. Several jurists have weighed in on the question: Hugo Cyr, Maxime St-Hilaire and Robert Décary* all take the view that a federal court judge cannot lawfully be appointed to a Quebec Court […] Read more

As you probably know by now, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that federal court judges are not eligible for appointment to its three ‘Quebec seats’: Reference re Supreme Court Act, ss. 5 and 6, 2014 SCC 21. Although retrospective legislation was introduced after the appointment of Justice Marc Nadon to the Court, […] Read more

A few weeks ago I appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs about the proposed modifications to the Supreme Court Act. You can watch the hearing here (warning, quicker to stream than to download). I prepared lengthy written submissions, which you can download here. These modifications are, of course, the subject […] Read more

I have posted already on the controversy surrounding the nomination of Nadon J.A., a judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court of Canada. The question is whether he meets the criteria imposed by ss. 5 and 6 of the Supreme Court Act. Some have been dismissive of the case mounted by […] Read more