Chief Justice of Canada

Chief Justice of Canada
Incumbent Beverley McLachlin, PC since 7 January 2000
Supreme Court of Canada Office of the Chief Justice
Style	The Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice
Nominator	Prime Minister of Canada
Appointer	Governor General of Canada
Term length	No set term, though retirement is mandatory at age 75
Inaugural holder	Sir William Buell Richards
Formation	30 September 1875
Succession	Assumes viceregal duties upon the death or incapacitation of the Governor-General
Salary	$396,700[1]
Website	Supreme Court

The Chief Justice of Canada is the presiding judge of the Supreme Court of Canada. The Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor General-in-Council, who also appoints the other eight puisne judges of the court.^[2]

Appointment

The Chief Justice is appointed by the Governor General-in-Council under the Supreme Court Act.,^[2] on the advice of the Prime Minister of Canada.^[3] The appointment is subject to the Supreme Court Act, which governs the administration and appointment of judges of the court. Judges appointed to the court must be "a judge of a superior court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of a province." Tradition dictates that the Chief Justice is appointed from a judge already appointed to the court.

The Chief Justice is sworn as a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada prior to taking the oath of office as Chief Justice.^[4]

Duties

The Chief Justice's central duty is to preside at hearings before the Supreme Court.^[5] The Chief Justice presides from the centre chair. If the Chief Justice is absent, the senior puisne judge presides.^[5]

Judicial Council

The Chief Justice chairs the Canadian Judicial Council, which is composed of all chief justices and associate chief justices of superior courts in Canada. This body, established by the Judges Act, organizes seminars for federally appointed judges, coordinates the discussion of issues of concern to the judiciary, and conducts inquiries, either on public complaint or at the request of the federal Minister of Justice or a provincial attorney general, into the conduct of any federally appointed judge.

Other duties

The Chief Justice also sits on the advisory council of Canada's highest civilian order, the Order of Canada. In practice however, the Chief Justice abstains from voting on a candidate's removal from the order, presumably because this process has so far only applied to individuals convicted in a lower court of a criminal offence, and could create a conflict of interest for the Chief Justice if that individual appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court.

Under the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, each province has a three-person commission responsible for modifying that province's federal ridings. The chair of each such commission is appointed by the chief justice of that province; if no appointment is made by the provincial chief justice, the responsibility falls to the Chief Justice of Canada.^[6]

Assistant viceroy

The Letters Patent of 1947 respecting the Office of Governor General provide that, should the Governor General die, become incapacitated, or be absent from the country for a period of more than one month, the Chief Justice or, if that office is vacant, the Senior Puisne Justice, of the Supreme Court would become the Administrator of Canada and exercise all the powers and duties of the Governor General. This has happened twice in the past, with Chief Justices Robert Taschereau and Sir Lyman Poore Duff acting as Governor General for brief periods following the death of a sitting Governor General. In 2005, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin was Administrator of Canada when then-Governor General, the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, was hospitalized when she had a pacemaker installed.

The Chief Justice and the other Justices of the Court serve as deputies of the Governor General for the purpose of giving Royal Assent to bills passed by parliament, signing official documents or receiving credentials of newly appointed high commissioners and ambassadors.

Current Chief Justice

The current Chief Justice is The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin, PC, the first woman to hold this position. She was appointed in 2000 and was previously a puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, the Chief Justice of the British Columbia Supreme Court, and a Justice on the British Columbia Court of Appeal. A graduate of the University of Alberta Faculty of Law, she has also practised law with various firms and taught law at the University of British Columbia. She was born in Pincher Creek, Alberta, in 1943.

List of Chief Justices

	Name	Province	Term	Appointed on advice of
1	The Honourable Sir William Buell Richards	Ontario	September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879[7]	Mackenzie
2	The Honourable Sir William Johnstone Ritchie	New Brunswick	January 11, 1879 – September 25, 1892	Macdonald
3	The Right Honourable Sir Samuel Henry Strong	Ontario	December 13, 1892 – November 18, 1902	Thompson
4	The Right Honourable Sir Henri Elzéar Taschereau	Quebec	November 21, 1902 – May 2, 1906	Laurier
5	The Right Honourable Sir Charles Fitzpatrick	Quebec	June 4, 1906 – October 21, 1918[7]	Laurier
6	The Right Honourable Sir Louis Henry Davies	Prince Edward Island	October 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924	Borden
7	The Right Honourable Francis Alexander Anglin	Ontario	September 16, 1924 – February 28, 1933	King
8	The Right Honourable Sir Lyman Poore Duff	British Columbia	March 17, 1933 –January 7, 1944[8]	Bennett
9	The Right Honourable Thibaudeau Rinfret	Quebec	January 8, 1944 – June 22, 1954	King
10	The Honourable Patrick Kerwin	Ontario	July 1, 1954 – February 2, 1963	St. Laurent
11	The Right Honourable Robert Taschereau	Quebec	April 22, 1963 – September 1, 1967[8]	Pearson
12	The Right Honourable John Robert Cartwright	Ontario	September 1, 1967 – March 23, 1970	Pearson
13	The Right Honourable Gérald Fauteux	Quebec	March 23, 1970 – December 23, 1973	P. E. Trudeau
14	The Right Honourable Bora Laskin	Ontario	December 27, 1973 – March 26, 1984	P. E. Trudeau
15	The Right Honourable Brian Dickson	Manitoba	April 18, 1984 – June 30, 1990	P. E. Trudeau
16	The Right Honourable Antonio Lamer	Quebec	July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000	Mulroney
17	The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin	British Columbia	January 7, 2000 – present	Chrétien

Notes

1. "Considerations Which Apply to an Application for Appointment". Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs. November 22, 2012.
2. "Supreme Court Act". Queen's Printer for Canada. 12 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
3. "Supreme Court of Canada". Retrieved 2016-01-06.
4. "About the Judges". Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
5. "Supreme Court of Canada - Role of the Court". www.scc-csc.ca. Supreme Court of Canada. Retrieved 2016-01-06.
6. "Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act". Retrieved 2009-09-25.
7. Richards and Fitzpatrick never served as puisne justices, but were appointed directly to the position of Chief Justice. All other Chief Justices served as puisne justices before acceding to Chief Justice, usually (but not always) on the basis of seniority.
8. In cases where a Governor General dies in office or leaves the position before a replacement can be named, Canadian tradition is that the Chief Justice assumes the viceregal duties until a new Governor General is appointed. Duff and R. Taschereau are the two Chief Justices who have served as Acting Governors General under this convention.