 Our Speaker, John Rooke
A Judicial Ruling on Our Book? |
| Terry McMahon introduced our speaker, Alberta Associate Chief Justice John Rooke. His presentation on Judicial Independence in Canada was a primer on the rule of law. His essential message was that the judicial branch of government exists for the benefit of its citizens, and is the primary shield protecting the constitution. Judges must be insulated from all forms of influence so that everyone is treated fairly and evenly before the law. Judicial independence is achieved through the adjudicative independence of individual judges, and through the institutional independence of the judiciary. This is achieved through security of tenure and requiring judges to have administrative and financial independence. Its specific elements include apolitical appointment and compensation processes, continuing education programs, and control of court management processes, in addition to judicial accountability and conduct reviews. He discussed how open judicial positions are contributing to court backlogs. For example, the lead time for a major (more than five days) criminal case is currently 52 weeks. There are currently 58 openings across Canada, with a disproportionate number of these in Alberta. As a result of these openings, courts are looking for ways to expedite cases. At the conclusion of a lively question and answer session, Rick Erven thanked our speaker. |
