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The Court; One judge's advice - Monday, September 08, 2003 at 23:45

PUBLICATION:  Windsor Star
DATE:  2003.09.08
EDITION:  Final
SECTION:  EDITORIAL
PAGE:  A6
SOURCE:  Victoria Times Colonist

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The Court; One judge's advice
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A new critic of the Supreme Court judicial appointment process has emerged and it is an unlikely source -- the chief justice of a provincial court.

To his credit, Quebec's Chief Justice Michel Robert has called for "a more transparent and a more credible system of appointments" for the Court.

Robert says Supreme Court judges "really are the third branch of government," and should be accountable to the public for their decision-making.

"The system does not inspire credibility and confidence in the general public and in the media -- I think that's the problem that has to be addressed," Judge Robert says in an interview to be published in The Lawyers Weekly.

The lack of confidence that Judge Robert refers to occurs because the current Supreme Court appointment process is left ultimately in the hands of one person -- the prime minister. After a decade in office, Prime Minister Jean Chretien has been able to dictate the shape of Canada's Supreme Court by unilaterally appointing six of the nine sitting Supreme Court judges and promoting its chief justice, Beverley McLachlin.

None of Chretien's judicial appointments has been scrutinized by Parliament and none had their qualifications and judicial records publicly reviewed prior to assuming their positions on the bench.

As Judge Robert points out, a lack of public scrutiny can lead to allegations of patronage when justices are named: "A political appointment is always suspicious, not because of the appointment, but because of the process of appointment."

Judge Robert, however, has an idea to solve this problem. He suggests the establishment of a broad-based, non-partisan council of judges, lawyers, government representatives and others to vet Supreme Court nominees.

A non-partisan council would be a good step forward, especially if the judicial appointment process were also open to public scrutiny.

That way, Canadians would be able to find out about the ideas and values that potential justices would bring to the Court. The country could learn about political ties (if any) and the prospective judge's position on issues like same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia.

"The public wants to know what we are doing because the public realizes we are deciding their lives every day. It's quite normal -- if somebody would be deciding my life, I would like to know who he is," says Judge Robert.

It's unlikely that the current prime minister is going to change the appointment process for the Supreme Court. But we can hope that Judge Robert's calls for more openness do resonate with the individual destined to be the next prime minister, Paul Martin.